Smitty: And those ports of call have been great, man. I mean, what an inspirational song to sort of reminisce about some of those great places we’ve been out there. Speaking of that, you have just become THE cruise artist, the number one cruise artist on the planet. Everybody knows about Nick Colionne’s world famous “Jam Sessions” and it’s become one of the highlights of going on the Smooth Music Cruise, and I must say that’s one of the things that has just kept me coming back to the Smooth Music Cruise because, man, we get down after midnight. (Both laugh.)
NC: Oh yeah. Let the circus open. (Both laugh.)
Smitty: And they get better every year. I mean, just when you thought, man, how do you top this jam session every night on this cruise? And some of the cool things that happened on the last cruise with the jam sessions were just crazy good. Some of the people that were at the jam sessions on the cruise told me that they have never stayed up that late in their life and they loved it. (Both laugh.)
NC: I didn’t wanna stay up that late. (Both laugh.) It just happened.
Smitty: Exactly, and that’s what the music does, man, and you have just become the maestro of the jam sessions making it such an exciting time and some people have never been this excited at 2 a.m. in their life.
NC: I dig this because I don’t like anything that’s not spontaneous.
Smitty: That’s what I’m talking about.
NC: I don’t like coming up with a whole, you know, I don’t like to try to dictate what’s gonna happen on the jam session. Because they come to me and they say like “What do you need us to do? What are we gonna do? Got a list of songs?” I’m like “No, I don’t have no list of songs. I don’t know what we’re playing.” (Both laugh.) I walk around the deck, man, and cats be coming to me telling me “You know what we’re gonna be doing tonight on the jam session?” I say “Nope. Haven’t figured it out. I’ll figure it out when I get to the stage.”
Smitty: But isn’t that improvisation at its best?
NC: That’s it, man. I don’t want cats going in there feeling like they gotta go to their room and practice all the songs. A few cats come to me and say, well, “Man, I don’t know a lotta outside songs.” I go “Don’t worry about it. We’ll make up something.”
Smitty: Yeah, and it’s always just killer. I mean, to me, it reminds me of a person posing for a photo opposed to someone taking a candid shot of them.
NC: Mm-hmm.
Smitty: And the candid shots are always so cool. And to allow the artists to just come out and just do their thing, you know, “Show me what you’ve got” is basically what the night is, you know?
NC: That’s what it should be about. Just come up and do your thing. This is no competition, this is no “Oh, he’s trying to play this song.” This is just walk off the wing of the stage and just come out there and start playing. I don’t care what you play, just play it and we’re all gonna follow each other and we’re gonna make it fun for us because if it’s fun for us, then it’ll be fun for the audience because you know me. I’m gonna be out there crackin’ up. (Laughs.)
Smitty: YOU crackin’ up? The fans are the ones crackin’ up. I included (Laughs.)
NC: Because I’ll be up there trying to figure out…I mean, the hardest thing with the jam session to me is getting people to stop playing.
Smitty: (Laughs.) And there again, I think when the musicians really get into it, they’re having the time of their life. It’s like something they’ve never ever experienced before.
NC: Mm. Because the main thing with the jam session is that they get musical freedom, you know?
Smitty: Exactly.
NC: You can play, even solo. I mean, some people get a little carried away and I’ll be like “Okay, man, tomorrow night you ain’t soloing for two hours.”
Smitty: (Laughs.)
NC: “Just come in here and you’re gonna play a regular time limit like everybody else. You did your thing last night, we let you get away with it.”
Smitty: Yeah, man, but it’s one of those things, you know, what I love about this particular cruise, the Smooth Music Cruise— the jam sessions. You can’t top it. I mean, the jam sessions are incredible. But I think the fans are so excited because they’ve had a full day of great music and interacting with the artists and then they know they’ve got some whipped cream that’s coming for that cake of the day, you know what I’m saying? And it’s the jam sessions. I mean, what a way to close out a day of just kickin’ and having fun with some great music? If you can’t have a great time on this cruise, ya need help.
NC: You know, you go to the jams, you come on a cruise, each night you see some great acts.
Smitty: Yeah.
NC: I mean, because the Smooth Music Cruise, they get some of the best cats in the business on the ship to play. Each night you get to see this particular act and that particular act do their thing, and then at the end of the night you get to see the same artists again playing with everybody else at the jam sessions.
Smitty: True that.
NC: And it’s like the fans get a chance to see how the musicians interact with each other and how much respect and admiration they have for each other and how much fun they have just getting a chance to play with each other, because these cats don’t play together all the time.
Smitty: It’s a first for some of them so they are really excited themselves.
NC: I had never played with Larry Carlton in my life. I used to just idolize him from records.
Smitty: Yeah, and was that sweet or what?
NC: Now I’m like I’m on the stage and here’s one of my heroes, you know? And before him, I thought a hero wasn’t nothing but a sandwich, you know? (Both laugh.)
Smitty: We are having too much fun. And you know what else is cool about that is how many times we have sat around saying “You know what? My dream team of a band would be Larry Carlton with Nick Colionne and Michael Paulo and Steve Cole,” and you start putting these names together. “I think these cats would make a great record.” Well, some of those dreams came true and still come true on these jam sessions, where people have always dreamed of this cat performing with this musician, so the fans are just getting a treat.
NC: Right. It’s like “Yeah, I wonder what those guys would sound like together?” And I hear this sometimes: “Have you ever thought about you and Norman (Brown) doing something together?”
Smitty: Mm-hmm.
NC: “Come on the cruise. Me and Norman do a lot together.”
Smitty: (Laughs.) Absolutely, and I gotta say that you add another dimension that is just quickly becoming just one of the most talked about things about the cruise. It’s your standup comic act. (Both laugh.)
NC: You needed to go there, right? Now you sound like my mother: “Why don’t you quit playing and be a comedian?”
Smitty: (Laughs.) Come on, man, I mean, I was in the San Francisco Airport about three months ago and I bumped into one of my beloved artists and we were discussing this past cruise, and I mentioned you and she said “You know, I love him. He could be a comedian. He’s so good.” (Laughs.)
NC: And you know what kills me about that, Smitty, and like my manager Carol (Ray), she’s always like “Man, you know, you can be really funny.” I’m like “Sometimes I’m not trying to be funny. I’m just saying what’s on my mind at the time.”
Smitty: And that’s what great comedians do. I mean, they’re that spontaneous. And you have the elements because like you said earlier, you love to be spontaneous, you’re an improvisational artist, so all of that just rolls off the tongue, man, and I mean, it’s like it quickly goes from the heart to the mind to the tongue, and when you have that kind of vibe within yourself, it’s gonna be cool.
NC: Sometimes I’ll be at home saying to myself “Why did I just say that?”
Smitty: (Laughs.)
NC: “Ah, I guess it’s all right.” But there are cats and there’s all these people that wanna mess with me, you know? If you see anything, somebody always gotta start a conversation with me from the audience
Smitty: Yeah, well, you know what? And I’m sure you’ve done this, and I noticed it on this past cruise more so than ever before, when you finish a song, everybody’s cheering and having a good time, but then they’re waiting to see what you’re gonna say.
NC: (Laughs.)
Smitty: Their smiles are wide and they’re laughing. It’s like “Okay, we know he’s gonna say something funny.”
NC: Yeah, I don’t know. Sometimes I’m being serious and people are thinking it’s funny. I’m like “That ain’t funny. I’m serious.”
