Jam Cruise Journals: Breakfasts With Dennis

Jam Cruise 9 was all about making good use of every single minute aboard the MSC Poesia for me, a task made easier by rooming with fellow scribe Dennis Cook of JamBase and Dirty Impound fame. Dennis and I met on Jam Cruise 8 and instantly became friends, which thrilled me to no end as I long had admired his work. Each morning the two of us would talk about such topics as life, live music, the industry, his family or the previous evening’s performances and without fail an hour would fly by in an instant before we’d have to break up our chat to go see the first act of the day.

[Photo by Dave Vann]

The two of us covered Jam Cruise in completely different ways, which is fitting considering the contrast in our styles. I wrote daily recaps from the boat on a fast-paced schedule, while Dennis digested the experience and analyzed the floating festival in a more cerebral fashion for a lengthy review that was just published on JamBase. As usual, Dennis nailed his description of the event in the must-read article. Within the first sentence, Cook detailed some of emotions I’ve felt having attended the past two Jam Cruises…

It’s not uncommon for people to dream about Jam Cruise once they’ve attended it once. Our lives are largely made up of small movements and reliable routines and Jam Cruise is a grand scale experience, a bold and evolving vision that takes one, literally and figuratively, out of the norm and into magic, revelatory spaces.

So head over to JamBase and check out Mr. Cook’s take on Jam Cruise 9. As an added bonus, you’ll get to see photos from some of the best photogs in the biz – Chad Smith, Dave Vann and Chris Monaghan. Over the past two years, Dennis has become a fixture on the boat and after reading his spot-on essay about our five music-filled days in the Caribbean, you’ll see why.