OUR TAKE: Fall Back, Foul Off, Fell Flat, Feel Fine, Free Country

One strategy for success is to throw as much as you can against the wall and hope that something sticks. That is the mantra for this edition of Our Take. There is so much swirling around these days that, rather than an in-depth look at one subject, we will hop around on various topics. For SNL fans, consider this a jazzy take on Weekend Update.

Fall Back.  
Daylight Savings Time ends tonight. For those who need a hack to get this right, the “Spring Forward/Fall Back” trick has always worked for me. Going to Standard Time is depressing, however. Dark skies just after 5 PM makes me feel like I am “in the dark” too long.  

Without reverting to Standard Time, school kids would be waiting for the bus in the dark in the morning. Not a good idea. At least the start of Standard Time is now after Halloween, allowing extra daylight for trick-or-treating. Still, driving home from work each night with your headlights on is not much fun either.  

Foul Off.
Dodgers in 5! Interesting, if not well played, series. The fan who mugged Mookie Betts and ripped the ball out of his glove must be an interesting dude. Everyone has a mother, but I am sure that she is in hiding from her bridge club over that one.

The World Series signals the end of the baseball season. Just under four months until Spring Training for ’25. I know that there is the NFL, NBA and NHL to fill the time, but their regular seasons are 17, 82 and 82 games respectively, at the conclusion of which very few teams are eliminated from the playoffs.

Granted, MLB has increased its playoff roster, but they do so after 162 games which allows the cream to rise to the top. Being a Cardinals’ fan, I can attest to both the excitement of a pennant race and the utter despair of a season of going nowhere.

I start watching other sports at playoff time. Baseball is like a good movie. It should be watched from the beginning to end with little to no interruptions.

Fell Flat.
The Weekender is a jazz chronicle, so at least one excerpt about jazz is needed. Saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins performed on one of our cruises as a sideman recently. Since that time, he has become one of the “hot” musicians among jazz critics and bloggers. So, as Roberta Flack so poignantly sang, “I came to see him and listen for a while.”

There was no “Killing Me Softly” moment, however. The musicianship of Wilkins and his band was strong, for sure, but the first tune lasted over 40 minutes and lacked any structure that I could recognize. Most of you are snickering now, silently laughing at the musings of an old man. Perhaps.

But as one who has spent the last quarter of a century promoting jazz to the world, I cannot but help to believe that this type of music poses an unnecessary criticism of our music. Just as “elevator” music became the lightning rod catchphrase for the criticism of “smooth jazz,” a 40+ minute tune with seemingly no context, might be the poster child for self-indulgent music. Just saying. 

As for being that guy who is stuck in his ways about music, please know that I am going to a Ben Folds concert tonight. How about that!

Feel Fine.
At the risk of sounding like a Public Service Announcement, this time of year should trigger thoughts of vaccinations (Flu/Shingles/Pneumonia/COVID, etc.). As we start to spend more time indoors and more time fighting off the cold, the likelihood of illness increases. The cruises are not requiring vaccinations at this time, but we urge you to consult your medical advisor and take whatever preventive measures you can.

Free Country.
Be sure to vote on Tuesday, November 5, if you have not done so already. Everyone has the right to vote their beliefs and ideals, but none of us should take our right to vote for granted. “Use it or lose it” nearly applies.

Conclusion. 
If I did this correctly, you should have found something here to like, something to hate, something to find interesting and something that was boring. And, hopefully, you will find something that made you laugh. Every day should include one good laugh, 20 minutes of smiling and something that makes you think.

My days often reflect that famous song by Meatloaf. “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad”!

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].

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New Al Jarreau Music Releases

Al Jarreau had a close musical and personal relationship with many Jazz Cruises’ artists, including most notably George Duke, Marcus Miller, Kurt Elling, Joe Sample and Dianne Reeves (his cousin!). The iconic vocalist was scheduled to sail with us on The Smooth Jazz Cruise in a duo with his pianist and music director Joe Turano. But Al’s untimely death in February 2017 prevented that special occasion. This month there are two albums being released with Al as the leader.

Al Jarreau and NDF Big Band’s Ellington

Not long before he died, Al went to Germany to tour and record the music of Duke Ellington with the famous NDR Big Band. The subsequent recording, Ellington, has just been released on the ACT label.

“We just went down the list, and it was a case of, ‘Oh, that one works for me,’ and ‘Let’s do this one as an old gut-bucket blues,” said Al. “What was important for me was to find myself inside the music and maybe make a different kind of statement about Ellington so people could hear the music in a different way from anything they had heard before.”

Among the compositions he sang with the big band are “I’m Beginning to See the Light,” “I Got It Bad (and that Ain’t Good),” “Come Sunday,” “Lush Life” and “I Ain’t Got Nothing but the Blues.” Siggi Loch, Al’s longtime friend and Act label head, said, “It was obvious that he really enjoyed performing this music and he did it with so much energy and emotion, it was a joy to see and hear.”

Al Jarreau’s Wow

This unearthed live radio recording, discovered by “The Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman for the Resonance label, captures a performance by Al with his trio at the intimate Childe Harold club in Washington, DC on August 13, 1976. The 10-song album features five compositions never heard before on a live Jarreau recording, including James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” and Count Basie’s “Shiny Stockings,” as well as early renditions of “Take Five” and “You Don’t See Me.” The album will be released as a limited-edition 2-LP set on November 29 as part of Record Store Day’s annual Black Friday Event, with the deluxe CD and digital download out on December 6.

Leave it to Al himself to sum up his approach to the music. “Music may well fall into categories for other people, and I understand that,” he said. “But for me, if I like a song, I have to do it, and that’s that. If you come to my concerts, I sit on your shoulder and whisper in your ear. I open minds and walk through many doors. If there is a backbone to what I do, it’s the jazz vernacular.”

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Jazz Cruises’ Programs

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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].