Sep 3, 2026 10:44 AM
In Memoriam: Cassandra Wilson, 1955–2026
Cassandra Wilson, a singer, songwriter and producer who was one of the most acclaimed and successful jazz vocalists of…
Chris Botti’s band vs. Gregory Porter’s in a Family Feud-style battle of the ensembles.
(Photo: Courtesy Signature Cruise Experiences)
Marcus Miller, Boney James and Kenny G hanging together on the Smooth Jazz Cruise.
(Photo: John Abbott)
The Celebrity Theater.
(Photo: Courtesy Signature Cruise Experiences)
Christian McBride digs into his bass on The Jazz Cruise.
(Photo: Courtesy Signature Cruise Experiences)
Daytime dancing on deck is always encouraged.
(Photo: Courtesy Signature Cruise Experiences)
Kurt Elling, Katherine Russell and Emmet Cohen (host on the 2027 Jazz Cruise) share a laugh at sea.
(Photo: Courtesy Signature Cruise Experiences)It began in 2001. A travel agent named Anita E. Berry had been booking clients on “partial” jazz cruises that took up half a ship for Norwegian Cruise Lines when the company decided to just stop offering them. But she saw the value and, at the ripe young age of 70, jumped on the opportunity to start her own. Just seven weeks after 9/11 in 2001, the first Jazz Cruise set sail. It’s been sailing and selling out ever since, a floating jazz festival that’s booked nearly every big name this music has produced in the last quarter century.
Berry passed away in 2020, but jazz at sea has been carried on by her son, Michael Lazaroff, who has taken the concept to new heights, currently hosting nine different music-related cruises each year: The Jazz Cruise, The Smooth Jazz Cruise (three a year), Journey of Jazz, Chris Botti at Sea, David Foster–The Hitman Cruise, the Top Shelf Country Cruise and The Yacht Rock Cruise (a brand new addition).
We sat down for a Zoom chat with Mr. Lazaroff as the company prepares for its next round of cruises to discuss the enduring appeal of jazz on the water.
Frank Alkyer: So, the company just started as The Jazz Cruise, but now you’ve branched out into, I think, six different cruises.
Michael Lazaroff: Yep. And we are about to add another one, a brand new theme [yacht rock], so that’s kind of exciting.
Alkyer: Give us a breakdown of what each cruise consists of. What’s different about them and the types of audiences they attract? Start with The Jazz Cruise, your flagship.
Lazaroff: That has been with us from 2001. It’s been fully reserved every single year. It is done festival style. We have almost 100 jazz musicians. And we have people playing all over the ship.
We have our own big band, which is led by John Clayton, and we have some of the greatest jazz musicians in the world, and they love it. For them, it’s jazz heaven.
Our guests are international. Average age is 65 or so. It’s an older group, but it keeps replenishing. We’ve been doing this for 26 years. Not everybody has been 65 for 26 years. [smiles]
Alkyer: Well, that’s the same with the artists, too.
Lazaroff: Yes. Back in the beginning, we’d have folks like Keter Betts, Eddie Higgins, guys like that, you know, they’re not around any longer. But we still have Houston Person, and this year we’ve had Monty Alexander. We have a number of heritage acts.
It’s done festival style. So you pick and choose what you want to see. You walk into a show, you don’t like it, you go to the other one. Or you see half of one and then half of another. It’s almost 200 hours of music in seven days.
Alkyer: The thing that people always say to me about this cruise is that they get to see the artists, appreciate their art, and then get to meet the artists and find out what they’re like as people. And the jazz artists are there the whole time.
Lazaroff: The other aspect is the jazz musicians love the following. They get to hear their colleagues. And they rarely get to do that. They may catch a piece here and a piece there. But they can sit and watch a whole show. And so many collaborations have been organized and were birthed on our cruise.
Alkyer: How does The Journey of Jazz Cruise differ from The Jazz Cruise?
Lazaroff: Journey of Jazz is a little less straightahead. It’s based around Marcus Miller’s show, which is the history of jazz. So we walk through the history of jazz, and we try to recreate the history of jazz for seven days. By having, as an example, Ledesi, she’s going to do a Dinah Washington show. We’ve got Wynton Marsalis, and we’ve got Marcus doing his show. Gregory Porter does an amazing Nat “King” Cole show. And this year we’re going to New Orleans, and we’re scheduled to overnight there. We have all kinds of shows there and all kinds of events there.
Alkyer: That’s a little bit of land, a little sea.
Lazaroff: You got it.
Alkyer: How about Chris Botti?
Lazaroff: Chris Botti is an adult contemporary artist. There’s really no theme to it other than it is adult contemporary. The lineup is sort of eclectic, and yet it’s age-group appropriate. We’ve got Boz Scaggs. We’ve got Elvis Costello, Melody Gardot, Josh Groban.
Alkyer: OK, The Smooth Jazz Cruise. Obviously, smooth jazz.
Lazaroff: The Smooth Jazz Cruise, that was the second program that we did [after The Jazz Cruise]. It’s really not “jazz” jazz. It’s instrumental music, but it’s kind of softer sounds. I mean, these guys are terrific musicians. Kirk Whalum can play anything. Marcus Miller can play anything. They just make this choice. It is a little more fun, a little more production. We now have three of them in a year.
Alkyer: I noticed that. You do two in January and then one in October.
Lazaroff: Yeah, and they all sell out. I mean, it’s people just having a great time.
Alkyer: Whenever I’ve gone to a smooth jazz show, it’s been more of a dance crowd.
Lazaroff: Exactly. Well, we call it the greatest party at sea, because that’s what it is.
Alkyer: Your David Foster Cruise has a different vibe from both of the jazz cruises, but it still has plenty of jazz elements within it.
Lazaroff: David Foster is obviously the greatest impresario of all, and for the upcoming cruise we have Michael McDonald on that. I snuck in Diane Reeves [laughs], and we have Leslie Odom Jr. One of the things … I cannot wait, but Michael McDonald and Diane Reeves are going to sing two duets together. I mean, think about that. That’s beyond cool.
Alkyer: Tell me about the boat.
Lazaroff: The Celebrity Summit hosts 2,000 passengers. The most important thing for us is to have some level of sophistication on the ship in terms of food and service and all that. And, obviously, Celebrity Cruises does a great job. But the other absolutely key elements are the venues. And this ship has a terrific main theater that seats up to half of the guests. It has a sky lounge up on top, which holds maybe 400, and that is like a jazz club. Then we have the Rendezvous Lounge. It holds about 300, and that has its own stage. But the coolest thing was when I first walked on that ship. They have a dining room that kind of looks like Dizzy’s Club [in New York], meaning it is U-shaped.
Alkyer: You got the windows?
Lazaroff: With the big windows — two decks of windows on the back. We set up a stage, and every night we have cabaret-style shows there. That’s our late-night hang, and it’s phenomenal.
Alkyer: How many people are repeat customers?
Lazaroff: The low would be 40%, the high would be 60%.
But, and are you ready? 24,000 people have sailed with us four or more times … 24,000.
Alkyer: Let’s say I had never been on a jazz cruise before in my life. Why should I go?
Lazaroff: If you like the music, there isn’t any way, shape or form that you’re ever going to be able to get that much music in that period of time with top names anywhere else. It just doesn’t exist anywhere else. Beyond that, you’re going to get to meet these people and the artists. You’re going to get to talk to them. It’s such a different experience. Because at the end of a show, when you’re on land, you’re asking, “Where did I park? We have to get home and pay the babysitter.”
You got nothing to worry about here. All you have to do is get back to a cabin. Doesn’t even have to be your cabin, just a cabin. [laughs] DB
For more information, go to scecruises.com.
Wilson’s ability to connect to audiences helped her to win two Grammy awards and multiple other accolades. She was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2022.
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