Benny Golson died last Saturday. He was 95. Which means he was born in 1929 and remained active as both a player and a composer through 2024. His life nearly coincided with the entire history of jazz in America.
Growing up in Philadelphia, Benny was fortunate to be amidst some of the most famous jazzmen of all time. As a teenager, he performed with John Coltrane, Philly Joe Jones and the Heath Brothers. That group alone connects the dots with Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker and more.
At Howard University, Benny began to learn music by playing in both the jazz and marching bands. This education would become significant when Benny decided to add composing and arranging to his professional career. But, the lure of performing cut short some of his educational pursuits and, at a very young age, he began a touring career, first with Lionel Hampton and later with other bands, including Dizzy Gillespie.
Benny enjoyed fame with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and was instrumental (pun intended) in the formation of Jazztet, along with trumpeter Art Farmer. McCoy Tyner broke in with Jazztet along with other young lions. That group ended in 1962 and Benny headed for Los Angeles where he worked for ten years as a composer and arranger for television and movies. His credits include The Mod Squad, The Partridge Family, Mission: Impossible and M*A*S*H*.
Wanting to return to the bandstand full time, Benny rejoined Art Farmer for the second iteration of Jazztet in 1982. Their return was very successful with album releases, tours and awards. Benny became an NEA Jazz Master in 1996, the highest award in the world of jazz.
Some of Benny’s most well-known compositions were created in the late ‘50’s: “I Remember Clifford” (’56), several tracks on Lee Morgan, Vol. 3 (’57) and several tracks on Moanin’ (’58 album by Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers) are highlights of an amazing career as a composer.
But, if there has to be one song to define someone’s talent, then, for Benny, it would have to be “Killer Joe.” When Benny last sailed on The Jazz Cruise (’23), during his interview, he was asked if there were any of his shows that did not include “Killer Joe.” I remember his reply like it was yesterday…“no, they make me play it every night…and thank God for that.”
Jazz Cruises takes great pride in presenting the legends of jazz whenever we are able to do so. Sometimes, their performances were more historical than musical. Carl Fontana’s last professional performance was on The Jazz Cruise ’03. He was ill and only left his stateroom to perform. Unfortunately, there were times that he was unable to play and remained in his stateroom.
Freddy Cole, Natalie Cole, Al Jarreau and George Duke passed very shortly after performing on a Jazz Cruises’ program. George’s illness was completely missed by us, a fact that bothers me today. I should have known that he was ill, but I failed to see the signs and forever missed my opportunity to savor my last time with George. As chronicled before, George Duke was a very important person for me and for Jazz Cruises.
In many ways, Benny Golson reminded me of George. Great talents. Players, arrangers and composers. Gentlemen. Role models for young players and idolized by all.
Growing older necessarily includes enduring the loss of loved ones, colleagues and people you admire that you have never met. In the 25+ years that we have been producing cruise programs, several players, significant in number and stature, have passed. I acknowledge them all, but dwell mainly on those who have impacted me in a special way.
When I heard that Benny Golson passed, I was very sad… “and thank God for that.”
By Michael Lazaroff, Executive Director of The Jazz Cruise, The Smooth Jazz Cruise, Chris Botti at Sea, Christian McBride’s World at Sea and Journey of Jazz. Feel free to express your views or pose questions to him at [email protected].
The Smooth Jazz Cruise ‘26.3 Will be Announced on October 11!
With the number of completed reservations and Pre-Sale Reservations totaling over 2,000, Jazz Cruises will be announcing the plans for a third sailing of The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26. Though the full details are being finalized, here is what we know now:
The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.3
Dates: September 11, 2026 – September 18, 2026
Ship: Celebrity Summit
Port of Embarkation: Vancouver, BC
Port of Disembarkation: Los Angeles
Additional Ports-of-Call: Victoria BC and San Francisco (overnight)
Cruise Hosts: Marcus Miller & Boney James
Special Guests, Artists and Featured Performers will be announced, together with the reservation procedure, on October 11, 2024! A Special Announcement Webinar will be presented that day as well and Jazz Cruises will answer all questions you may have in real time. You may sign up for the webinar HERE.
- The purpose of adding a third sailing is to provide all guests with the opportunity to sail on The Smooth Jazz Cruise. ’26.1 or ’26.2 Guests may not reserve a stateroom on the ’26.3 Cruise until every guest holding a Pre-Sale Reservation for any ’26 sailing of The Smooth Jazz Cruise has had the opportunity to reserve a stateroom.
- Soon after the announcement of the ‘26.3 Cruise, ’26.1 or ’26.2 Guests will be provided an opportunity (small window) to transfer their reservations to The Smooth Jazz Cruise ‘26.3 (“‘26.3 Cruise”). In doing so, such guests will be relinquishing their current reservations, which will be made available to guests wishing to sail on one of those earlier sailings.
No system or procedure is perfect, but, by adding a third sailing of The Smooth Jazz Cruise, allowing ’26.1/’26.2 Guests to transfer to ’26.3, and restricting ’26.1/’26.2 Guests from reserving a stateroom for ’26.3, we believe that we have configured a very fair, equitable and user-friendly system to allow more guests to enjoy a ’26 sailing of The Smooth Jazz Cruise.
Website Update
We’re excited to introduce the new look and content of www.jazzcruisesllc.com! Now you can read past issues of The Weekender, get caught up on The Jazz Cruises Conversation Podcast and, of course, get details on all of our upcoming cruise experiences! Check it out!
Don’t Miss the Botti!
Botti at Sea ’25 sails in 130 days, but your time for reserving one of the remaining staterooms is much, much shorter! Why? Because there are very few staterooms remaining! Current inventory includes a handful of Veranda Staterooms, a slightly larger selection of Ocean View Staterooms and some Inside Staterooms.
For those looking for Single Occupancy, a few of the Inside Staterooms are available for that request. To complete a Reservation for an Inside Stateroom as a single, you must contact the office directly. All other reservations may be made online or through the office. Botti at Sea ’24 was epic, in all respects. Botti at Sea ’25 will be even better.
New Albums
Newly-released albums from two of our Jazz Cruise favorites.
Christian Sands’ Embracing Dawn
Christian Sands, who has sailed with us on The Jazz Cruise as a member of Christian McBride’s Trio as well as a leader of his own group, has just released his latest album, Embracing Dawn.
Performing with Christian on the recording are his longtime bandmembers Marvin Sewell (guitar), Yasushi Nakamura (bass) and Ryan Sands (drums), plus special guests Warren Wolf (vibes) and Grégoire Maret (harmonica). “When we perform, there are things that I don’t even have to say,” says Sands. “We literally share the same musical DNA. As an artist, I’ve always told stories but I’ve always tried to tell the stories of other people, right? These are my stories here — but in a roundabout way, I ended up creating my most relatable, universal statement yet.”
Anat Cohen & Quartetinho’s Bloom
Longtime favorite of The Jazz Cruise audience, Anat Cohen, has released Bloom, the second album from her group Quartetinho (pronounced “quartet-CHIN-yo”). The band name is Portuguese for “little quartet,” and is comprised by Anat on various clarinets, Tal Mashiach on bass and guitar, Vitor Gonçalves on piano and accordion and James Shipp on vibraphone and percussion.
Bloom (Anat’s 22nd album as a leader or co-leader) showcases compositions by each member of the band, as well as a lyrical take on Thelonious Monk’s “Trinkle, Tinkle” and an expansive arrangement of Paraguayan guitarist-composer Augustín Barrios Mangoré’s classic “La Catedral.”
Jazz Cruises’ Programs
The Jazz Cruise ’25
FULLY RESERVED
Celebrating it’s 25th Anniversary
The Jazz Cruise ’26 to be Announced Soon!
The Jazz Cruise ’25 is fully reserved. Since the cruise does not sail for several months, there will be cancellations and staterooms will become available. Stateroom vacancies are filled from the Waitlist, which is not lengthy right now. If you wish to sail on The Jazz Cruise ’25, we urge you to JOIN WAITLIST now.
Stay tuned for the launch of The Jazz Cruise ’26. Most of the lineup has been secured, so we should be announcing the details of the cruise in mid to late November.
The Smooth Jazz Cruise ‘26.1 & ‘26.2
Lineup Just Announced!
’25 Sailings Fully Reserved
Both sailings for 2025 are fully reserved and the Waitlist has more than 4,000 entrants.
We are now focused on reservations for the ’26 Sailings. Three waves of guests with Pre-Sale Reservations (each wave with 200 holders) have become eligible to reserve a stateroom.
We will continue to activate holders in groups until all those holding Pre-Sale Reservations can book. Open Booking begins on October 17, but, if you want to act sooner, there is still time to go to The Smooth Jazz Cruise website and complete a Pre-Sale Reservation for The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.
See above for the announcement of the 3rd sailing of The Smooth Jazz Cruise in ’26!
Botti at Sea ’25
Every Night is a Night on the Town
New Performers Announced – Diana Krall and Peter Cincotti
Botti at Sea ’25 is more than 94% reserved. Act NOW to reserve one of the remaining staterooms. Veranda, Ocean View and Inside Staterooms are available in limited quantities
Journey of Jazz ’25
Jazz Life at Sea & On Land
Reserve Now – Excursions Menu Available Soon
Jazz Cruises’ West Coast program, Journey of Jazz, hosted by Marcus Miller & Gregory Porter, is in Open Booking. Though not sailing for 12 months, the cruise is more than 65% reserved.
The menu of land-based excursions in Victoria and San Francisco has been announced. Check out Jazz Cruises’ curated trips to Wine Country, Special Shows and more HERE. Reserve your stateroom now to be eligible for events when they become available to reserve.
Mug Shots
Guests on the ’24 jazz cruises received The Weekender mug, which we hope you will use with your Saturday morning coffee while you read the latest edition. Please share a picture of yourself & your mug with us so that we can include it for the 100,000+ folks who receive The Weekender each Saturday.
Tag us @thejazzcruise, @bottiatsea, @thesmoothjazzcruise, #jazzcruises and #theweekender. Email your photo to [email protected].