Playboy Jazz Cruise

Playboy Jazz Cruise

Date Posted: November 16 2008

Written By: Marsha Noble

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Jaz n U Corner

The First-Ever Playboy Jazz Cruise

BY MARSHA NOBLE


As a veteran jazz radio personality, on a weekly basis I have the pleasure of selecting what I feel is the best of jazz music to air on my show. My music selections, drawn from the long history of jazz, aren’t easy to make. But I must admit that I love what I do and therefore the work is not really work. I don’t really know where or when the selection process begins, but as I look through the myriad of music, both on albums and CDs, the crescendo of excitement begins. It’s almost as if I am preparing to run a marathon. The first item on my agenda is to try not to repeat playing something that has been played in the last few weeks. Each show must be different, as I attract new listeners each week. It means a lot to me to get the numerous phone calls––I always know my faithful listening audience is there, and they trust me to fill their jazz needs that day.

Jazz music has a vibrant history that takes the listener down memory lane. It is reminiscent of good times, bad times or just a bygone era. When choosing the music to play I carefully consider my listener, because if it weren’t for them, I would not have been on the air for the past thirteen years. Another consideration is the time of the year, because most of my shows have a theme.

If it’s June, I celebrate Black Music Month, and mix soul, R&B and blues in with jazz, since blues and gospel (formerly Negro Spirituals) are the parents of jazz music. After considering the listener and the time, I consider the artist. Obviously, those artists preferred by me and my listeners are most often on the playlist, but often times I introduce new music found during my shopping escapades. When I introduce a new artist I look for the listeners’ critiques, because, after all, they are the ones who buy the music. This often determines whether or not the artist makes a repeat performance. And then there are spontaneous music selections made while I am sitting in the middle of that pile of music.

But this past week one kind of music kept coming back to my mind––the phenomenal recordings of various jazz festivals back in the day. Having run across so many of these albums, I decided to play a few on my show and, to my surprise, the audience was impressed and pleased that I had them. Listening to the many recordings of the Newport, Monterey, Montreux and Chicago Jazz Festivals, I knew I had hit on something big. Hearing the amazing music and the live crowds applauding endlessly, shouting, roaring and going on with shouts-out––I felt like I had missed a very important part of jazz history. Hearing the hosts introduce the artists, the artists introducing each other and the bands’ futile attempts to end songs against the protests of fest-goers urging them to go on, convinced me these recordings had to go on the air. (When shopping for a Christmas gift for a jazz lover, let me recommend you purchase a jazz festival CD––they’ll love it!)

As I listened to these gems, nostalgia gripped me, and for a brief moment I longed to be back there. But I also realized that I would soon be a part of a history-making event, attending the first-ever Playboy Jazz Cruise in January––that I would be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime affair, and that I will be able to say, I was there. Feeling the anticipation surge through me, I began to imagine the sounds of the cruise’s headliner, Chicago’s own jazz pianist and Grammy winner, Herbie Hancock. I could hear him playing one of his hits, perhaps “Chameleon” or “Cantaloupe Island.” I could see him stroke the keys of the piano and glance out at a mesmerized crowd taking in his every stroke. I began to imagine the smooth songstress Dianne Reeves, another Chicagoan, glide across the stage and serenade us into oblivion with her sultry sounding voice. I pictured her singing “We’ll Be Together Again.”

The Playboy Jazz Cruise, a sea-bound jazz festival, promises to be the cruise of all jazz cruises with its awesome lineup. The event will be hosted by jazz pianist Marcus Miller. I could just picture legendary jazz saxophonist James Moody blowing us away with his hit songs, “Moody’s Mood” or “I’m in the Mood for Love,” one of his most requested songs. I could hear every note in my head, as these songs were among the staples of jazz played by my parents. Jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove will favor us with the many sounds of his trumpet style that have helped place his name in the jazz pantheon. The salsa storyteller of jazz, Poncho Sanchez, will add a flavor of the Afro-Cuban sound that will make us want to dance all night. Adding to this awesome jazz lineup will be another Grammy winner, guitarist Keb Mo, as well as saxophonist James Carter, jazz pianist Eldar, vocalist Roberta Gambarini, the New Birth Brass Band and Alonzo Bodden.

As I continued searching through my music, a flashback of my parents talking about attending the first Playboy Jazz Festival in Chicago in 1959, organized by the Playboy magazine, came to mind. (I envied their opportunity of being at the first of these festivals, hearing legends Dinah Washington and Lionel Hampton up close and personal). The first Playboy Jazz Festival was held at the Chicago Stadium, with an audience of 68,000, and was considered one of the largest festivals back then. The music was Dixieland, swing and bop. The three-day festival included performances by Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and others. In 1979, the Playboy Jazz Festival was first held in Hollywood, California. It was a two-day affair, sponsored by Playboy Enterprises. The music of 1979 installment was swing, jazz, rock and gospel with 18,000 fest-goers in attendance.

Following in the footsteps of my parents, from January 25 until February 1, 2009, I will be attending a history-making event––sailing the high seas on the Holland America m/s Westerdam, visiting exotic ports of call, like San Juan, Nevis, St. Barth’s and Half Moon Cay, and experiencing J-A-Z-Z! The cruise promises a romantic piano bar, a greenhouse spa and salon and more. I plan to mix and mingle with jazz artists and jazz lovers day in and day out to ensure that I come away with memories that I will write about and archive in my growing jazz journal.

For more information about The Playboy Jazz Cruise, contact Brookfield Travel at (800) 486-8960 and tell them the Pacemaker sent you. When you do, you’ll receive a special invitation to a private party with some of the jazz artists who will be entertaining you on the ship. And should you ever want to contact me, by all means, please write to me at jazzpacemaker@aol.com.


Tune in every Saturday morning for the JAZNU Show on WSSD 88.1 FM with Marsha Noble, the Jazz Pacemaker. Your Saturday mornings will never be the same. To email the Pacemaker, jazzpacemaker@aol.com or write to M. Noble Productions at P.O. Box 53-519, Chicago, IL 60653-0519 and send your jazz events for airing on the JAZNU Calendar.

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