During the 2012 Jazz Cruise, JazzTimes set up a make-shift video production studio in “The Boardroom,” a small room on the second deck of the MS Westerdam. Throughout the week, a succession of artists-including Kurt Elling, Freddy Cole, Ann Hampton-Callaway, Don Braden, Ken Peplowski, Wycliffe Gordon, Bill Charlap & Renee Rosnes and many others-came in to talk about the cruise, jazz education and their own projects. We will be posting these interviews at jazztimes.com over the next few months. You can also see more of these video interviews at the JazzTimes YouTube channel.
The man behind the Jazz Cruise and other cruises is Michael Lazaroff, executive director of Entertainment Cruise Productions. Since 1999 when his mother Anita Berry first created the Jazz Cruise, Lazaroff has been working to present jazz at sea with the only fully-chartered jazz cruise. In this In Person set of interview segments, Lazaroff spoke about the origins of the Jazz Cruise and how he programs and markets that cruise, as well as other music-specific cruises, including the Smooth Jazz Cruise. He also shares an anecdote about one of the funnier things that happened to him during a jazz cruise.
Michael Lazaroff on the origins of the Jazz Cruise and what makes it unique:
Michael Lazaroff on how he programs and schedules artists and events during the Jazz Cruise:
Michael Lazaroff on the other music-related cruises his company organizes:
Interviews done by Irene Lee.
Originally Published
