THE TOP 3 FROM JAM CRUISE 5
By Team JamBase Jan 12, 2007 • 12:00 am PST
 Jam Cruise 2007 by Dave Vann |
Every year Jam Cruise gets better, and number five would be the best yet. With three full days at sea and port stops at the islands of Turks and Caicos and Cayo Levantado, a private island off the Dominican Republic, Jam Cruise is a musical paradise worth every penny.
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There were psychedelic Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin covers, all star Grateful Dead tributes, Brock Butler leading PGroove through “Wu Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin’ to Fuck With” > “Samson Rap” > “Rhymin’ and Stealin'” (better than you would ever think) and The Disco Biscuits killing “Paul Revere.” The highlights go on-and-on-and-on. Instead of trying cover five days of bliss on the boat we’ve gathered some of favorite artists’ and associates’ Top 3 Moments to help tell the tale of our little party on Jam Cruise 5.
 Jam Cruise 2007 by Weintrob |
1. Jamming with Umphrey’s McGee on the Pool Deck.
2. Jamming with George Porter Jr.
3. How everyone was like one big family.
Patterson Hood
1. Hanging with my Family.
2. Hanging with Luther and Neisha Dickinson / Jomo and Aidan / John and Christine.
3. My daughter acting all punk rock and yelling at well-meaning unsuspecting strangers who got too close to her. (She is almost two and folks would get in her face saying “How cute” and she’d let them have it!)
Marc Brownstein :: The Disco Biscuits
1. Annabel and Peter’s Engagement.
2. Vince Iwinski’s (Umphrey’s McGee manager) – freestyle performance on the back deck – “Now I got some stinky hippies standing next to me!”
3. Allen Aucoin’s smooth as ever reprisal of “Echoes” coming out of “Cyclone.” Caught the Pool Deck by surprise even blew my mind!
4. The HeadCount Presidential Debate – Crazy Charlie’s platform of Party till 10 a.m. – now that is what Jam Cruise is all about.
 Jam Cruise 2007 by Weintrob |
1. John Morgan Kimock with George Porter Jr. (w/ Zero & at Jam room/Cotton Club).
2. Sitting in with ALO on the pool deck.
3. Collecting sea glass in Turks & Caicos.
Marco Benevento
1. My red and black stripe socks.
2. Feedback sword fight between Skerik and I.
3. Horny Manatees.
Trevor Garrod :: Tea Leaf Green
1. Jammin in the Jam Room with George Porter Jr. and John Morgan Kimock.
2. The 4 a.m. jam session on the top deck with members of Hot Buttered Rum, TLG lighting crew and other folks that got so raucous that the captain complained.
3. Patterson Hood from Drive-By Truckers in the Cotton Club.
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1. Joining my friend Jeff Austin and playing “Ophelia” with ALO.
2. Taking part in the Social Change through Music Panel Discussion.
3. Getting a great start to the jamming by sitting in with Tea Leaf Green on the very first night!
John Skehan :: Railroad Earth
1. Sounds of San Francisco set (specifically the “Help on the Way” > “Slipknot”).
2. Watching the High Sierra scene take over a luxury cruise ship.
3. The way the boat still rocks your body days after disembarking.
Nat Keefe :: Hot Buttered Rum
1. The Grateful Dead set with TLG, ALO, and Zero. The songs I played were fun, but the highlight was dancing backstage while my homeboys ripped up “Help” > “Slip” > “Franklin’s.
2. Hanging with musical colleagues and friends.
3. Playing the island set. The sight of everyone dancing with the backdrop of sand and bright blue water… Improvising with Greg, Tim and Andy.
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Hot Buttered Rum
1. Meeting and performing with Donna Jean Godchaux!
2. Performing on the private island.
3. Being warm in January!
Dan Lebowitz :: ALO
1. Greyboy Allstars on the Pool Deck first night.
2. Sounds of San Francisco Grateful Dead Tribute featuring ALO, Tea Leaf Green, Hot Buttered Rum and Zero.
3. The Lot Dawg, Thumpy, Tanner, Studerus, Merchata Presidential Extravaganza.
Zach Gill :: ALO
1. George Porter Jr. stumbling through the bridge of “Don’t stop Believing” (by Journey) during Rock Star Karaoke.
2. Donna Jean jumping in to hit the back up vocals on “Franklins Tower.”
3. Steve Adams falling out of his bunk.
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1. Hanging out with Donna Godchaux.
2. The Jam Room. At one point I caught George Porter Jr., Steve Kimock, Robert Walter, Karl Denson, Martin Fierro, DJ Logic and various others up on stage, making some pretty good music.
3. The Presidential Debate. Marc Brownstein did a great job keeping things rolling while Lot Dawg dropped mad vision of global charisma, community and actualization!
3. Acoustic jams in the piano room with Deanne Herman (SuperDee), ALO, Hot Buttered Rum, Railroad Earth, Trevor Garrod… This was the sweet getaway!
3. The Greyboy Allstars, Garage a Benevento, and Galactic. Super-stoked to see all three of these bands again!
Dave Brogan :: ALO
1. Garage a Benevento in the Teatro!
2. Playing “Franklin’s Tower” with Donna Godchaux.
3. Late night breakfast buffet with President Lot Dawg.
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Manager for ALO
1. Jam Cruise vibe. The entire experience created by Annabel, Mark, Josh and the Jam Cruise team.
2. ALO and Friends acoustic show in the Piazza. Incredible, intimate performance with members of Hot Buttered Rum and Railroad Earth.
3. Garage a Benevento Sunday night show. Mind, body, and soul shaking show.
Alison Lewis
1. Patterson Hood.
2. Singing in Karl D’s Super Jam.
3. Patterson Hood, again…
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The New Mastersounds
1. Bass In Your Face Workshop.
2. Sitting in with Galactic.
3. Jam room on the last night jamming with Elgin Parks from Greyboy Allstars, and Fuzz from Deep Banana Blackout.
4. I Also loved the Dirty Dozen gig on the Pool Deck.
Simon Allen
The New Mastersounds
1. Our three hour set in the Cotton Club with sit-ins from Karl D and George Porter on the first night.
2. Los Amigos Invisibles – my favourite band on the boat.
3. 70s night. The hot outfits all over the boat. I just had my Austin Powers glasses and I was set.
 Jam Cruise 2007 by Dave Vann |
Perpetual Groove
1. Seeing Brock Butler play with the Disco Biscuits.
2. Having Deanne Herman play with us.
3. Hosting a Crapshoot game in which nothing but industry people showed up. What a bunch of degenerates we all are. Fortunately people won big!
Ben Ferguson :: Tour Manager
Perpetual Groove
1. Spreading out on sun chairs with our entire crew after a long night to listen to Brock’s voice carry across the deck of the ship during his beautiful solo set. Wish it was longer!
2. The Jam Room – don’t even know where to begin!
3. The abundance of Pink Floyd on the boat – Brock’s set, the Biscuits, Umphrey’s McGee.
Eric Gerber :: Manager – Royal Artist Group
1. Derek Trucks in the Theatre.
2. Garage a Benevento in the Theatre.
3. BINGO! with Skerik.
 Jam Cruise 2007 by Dave Vann |
Hard Head Management
1. Sounds of San Francisoc Grateful Dead Tribute. Pure bliss.
2. Karl D Super Jam. “Super Jams” usually mean a ton of musicians playing together for the first time, vamping on “Cissy Strut” for 30 minutes. Props to Karl for putting in the work to plan the players, songs and write out charts with changes and solo orders on them. Was a perfect set of classic funk and soul covers by some of the best musicians in the world.
3. The steam I took after coming back on the boat from Grand Turks to prep for the big night ahead. Never felt better.
Vince Iwinski :: Manager for Umphrey’s McGee
1. Burning Spear with Umphrey’s McGee creating the Jammin on Jam Cruise song that hasn’t left my head yet.
2. Seeing the MSC Opera approach Grand Turk from miles away on the horizon as I sit on the beach waiting for it to arrive.
3. Annabel’s engagement – classic!
& FELLOW FREAKS
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2. Sounds of San Francisco – Grateful Dead Tribute. Hands down my favorite set of the ship. The fact that ALO, TLG and HBR, who all come from my generation of, “yes we saw the dead 20+ times but not nearly enough,” NAILED every song AND they got to perform with the effervescent Donna Jean Godchaux. And along with that highlight, I spent 45 minutes with Donna Jean talking about her first Dead show, my first Dead show, and everything that followed (her meeting Keith and joining the band, me going on tour and ending up in the music business). It was a mind blowing conversation.
3. George Porter, Jr. When I booked the man to come Jam Cruise, he told me that he barely knew any of the bands on board and asked “what should I do, who should I play with?” I said, “George, just show up.” Show up indeed… can you say AT EVERY SHOW, ON EVERY STAGE. The man was on fire. And he performed with grace, passion and a WHOLE lotta bad ass grooves. His wife said to me, “Thank you for bringing my husband on Jam Cruise. I haven’t seen him smile this much in 40 years.” They celebrated their 40th anniversary on board… classy couple they are. In the words of George Porter, I’ll give it back to him, “May your grooves be phat!”
SuperDee :: JamBase Director of Production, Design & Whatnot
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2. Led Zeppelin conjuring the rain on the pool deck twice – once during Galactic’s cover of “Kashmir” and once during Umphrey’s McGee’s cover of “Immigrant Song” the next night.
3. Sitting in with Perpetual Groove on “Only Always.”
Honorable mentions / ties:
4. Brock sitting in with The Disco Biscuits for “We’re Not Gonna Take It” > “Run Like Hell.”
5. Steve Kimock sitting in with ALO for “Plastic Bubble.”
Andy Gadiel :: JamBase Founder & President
1. Annabel “Julie McKoy” getting engaged during the awards ceremony!
2. The Disco Biscuits first set (“Magellan” > “Above the Waves” water theme opener plus “Paul Revere” rap).
3) The Jam Room: The Kimocks (Steve & John Morgan) + George Porter Jr. w/ Martin Fierro and Karl Denson on saxes .
Aaron Kayce (Kayceman) :: JamBase Editor-In-Chief
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2. SuperDee sitting in on violin (and killing it!) with Perpetual Groove.
3. Cayo Levantado – our own private island. There is no hangover cure like the warm ocean, hot sun and Coca-Cola.
And of course, raging on a boat in the Caribbean!
Tanner Wyer :: JamBase Sales
1. Electing the shit out of Lot Dawg.
2. LEBO! (ALO)
3. Living the dream with friends. This boat is 100000000x better with people you love there.
Benjy Eisen :: Freelance Journalist (Rolling Stone, Paste, Relix)
1. Rendezvous at “ten to eleven.”
2. The Disco Biscuits late-night show on the pool deck; entire show.
3. Perpetual Groove “Ryhmin’ and Stealing” (Beastie Boys cover).
Mike Greenhaus :: Staff Editor Relix Magazine
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2. Brock Butler’s cover-heavy acoustic set, book ended by the post-jam space-rock of the Secret Machines and the proto-jam space-rock of Pink Floyd.
3. Patterson Hood’s somewhat acoustic, and somewhat less solo, solo-acoustic set.
Bonus: ALO’s bastard version of “Girl, I Want to Lay You Down” with members of Railroad Earth and Hot Buttered Rum on our podcast Cold Turkey.
Aaron Benor :: Advertising Guru Relix Magazine
1. Perpetual Groove doing “Wu Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin’ to F*ck With” > “Samson rap” > “Rhymin’ and Stealin’.”
2. Matt Hogan singing “Boogie on Reggae Woman,” backed by Porter, Simon, Zach, Fuzz and Albert.
3. Umphrey’s McGee – “Dick in a Box.”
Honorable Mention: Craps table, 1/4/07.
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1. The Disco Biscuits set from the last night when Brock from PGroove came out for The Who song, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” > “Run Like Hell. Then the set closer (Beatles – “I’ve Got a Feeling”) with Brendan and Jake from Umphrey’s McGee on the Pool Deck.
2. Burning McGee, when Burning Spear came out and rocked the “Yammin on the Yam Cruise” jam mid set with Rasta flood lights hitting the Pool Deck.
3. Sounds of San Francisco – Grateful Dead Tribute with members of ALO, HBR and TLG with Kimock, Donna Jean and Martin Fierro in the Opera Theatre.
4. All the epic Caribbean sunrises.
Michael Weintrob :: Photographer
 Jam Cruise 2007 by Dave Vann |
2. Terrence Higgins, Tony Hall, Erik Krasno, Luther Dickinson on “Voodoo Child.”
3. Burning Spear in the Theater.
Matt Hogan
SCI Fidelity & Jam Cruise
1. Rock Star Karaoke – ME singing “Boogie On Reggae Woman” with George Porter Jr., Zach Gill (ALO), Fuzz (DBB) and Simon Allen (NMS). Wow.
2. Cayo Levantado – our own private island paradise.
3. Bass In Your Face Workshop with George Porter, Jr. Oteil Burbridge, Pete Shand and Todd Smallie.
Marc Ross :: Rock the Earth President & E.D.
1. Sounds of San Francisco Grateful Dead Tribute with members of Hot Buttered Rum, ALO and TLG. Sickest Dead cover set ever!
2. The Greening Snorkeling Excursion with Jeff Austin, Tim Carbone and Carey Harmon of Railroad Earth and Zac Matthews of Hot Buttered Rum.
3. Galactic and JJ Grey doing “Sympathy for the Devil” – outrageous.
Lot Dawg :: 2007 Jam Cruise President
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2. When Dan, Dave, Zach, and Steve from ALO took the stage during Galactic’s Opera lounge set to belt out a classic lounge singer act doing – Pointer Sister’s “Yes We Can Can”, this song ended up as my Horoscope for the day.
3. During the debate I had a chance to answer a question that I thought had a simple easy answer. Debate Question: “What jam scene is the best, the West or the East? and Why?” All five candidates answered before me stating that their scene was the best. I answered “We are all one, there is no best side of the country and the best scene was right there on the boat all together, Jam Cruise music fans are the cream of the crop globally.” Apparently I answered on target as the crowd cheered in approval to my response, and it felt good.
Photos by MICHAEL WEINTROB
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 SuperDee | |
 The Dirty Dozen Brass Band | |
 Tony Hall | |
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 Burning Spear | |
 John Morgan Kimock and George Porter Jr. | |
 Martin Fierro | |
 Mike Dillon | |
 Ian and Ivan Neville | |
 Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks |
Photos by DAVE VANN
 Burning Spear with Umphrey’s McGee | |
 Tea Leaf Green | |
 Skerik | |
 Rock vs. Rock Journalism Panel Burning Spear, Patterson Hood Benjy Eisen, Aaron Kayce (Kayceman), Mike Greenhaus | |
 Umphrey’s McGee signing posters | |
 Todd Shaeffer :: Railroad Earth | |
 Brock Butler :: Perpetual Groove | |
 The New Mastersounds | |
 Marco Benevento | |
 Dickinson, Moore, Grey | |
 DJ Logic | |
 Jam | |
 Ivan Neville | |
 John Gutwillig playing Guitar Hero | |
 JJ Grey with Galactic | |
 Susan Tedeschi with Derek Trucks Band | |
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 Brock Butler and SuperDee | |
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 Umphrey’s McGee and The Disco Biscuits | |
 Presidential Awards | |
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