Posted by Scott Heaps on January 12, 2015 Jamming on Jam Cruise 2015
Almost a decade has passed since I last joined Jam Cruise for a week at sea. But it was worth the wait because Jam Cruise 2015 was totally over the top. I loved spending time with old friends like Col. Bruce, George Porter and Eric Krasno, and making so many new ones too. I ran myself absolutely ragged trying to teach at the Master’s Camp At Sea and make all of the jam sessions happening all over the boat. Nikki Glaspie, Eric Krasno, Snarky Puppy, and John Scofield invited me to participate in jams and it was such an uplifting way to start the new year.
Seeing so many musicians (myself included) having the time of their lives hanging and jamming with their heroes and friends was the best. The vibe on the boat was transcendent. At one point I thought to myself, “How can we take this feeling off of the boat and into the wider world?” Then my Jam Cruise bubble was burst when I went to the gym and CNN came on the little TV on my elliptical machine and I saw all of the terrible things that were happening in France. On the boat I saw people of so many different religions, races, and economic classes celebrating, working, breaking bread, dancing and living together without giving in to paranoia, stereotyping, or animosity. As we disembarked and I said my goodbyes to so many good friends and fans, I prepared myself to reenter the real world and leave behind any hope of these feelings spreading off of the boat and into the wider world.
Fortunately, I was wrong about that: as soon as I got to the airport I saw a million people of all different races, classes and religions taking to the streets of Paris to demonstrate in a unity rally on the TV. To see this intentional display of unity, the refusal to separate further and become even more fearful of each other, the defiance against terrorist attempts to further divide us made me feel like the love and hope for the future that I was feeling on the boat wasn’t just imaginary. I’m starting to think that there really is a massive shift in consciousness happening on the planet. Back in the 60’s we used to say “Power to the people”. It was the classic American cry for equality, justice and fair representation in society. Now I can see that people are realizing worldwide that the power IS the people. We hold the cards. We always have, but we didn’t realize it. The 1% are terribly outnumbered!
The warmongers of all religions, races and classes are going to lose. We will live, work, play, intermarry and procreate together. These boundaries will be erased in a practical sense. We will always have our traditions but they will be added to. As Jews marry Catholics, Muslims marry Hindus, and people of all races and classes make babies together the children will be the living example of not having to choose one or the other. What race will my son be? I won’t force him to be labeled any other race than “human”. Of course he is free to choose how he wants to define himself. Considering what kind of people his mom and dad are, I can’t wait to see what that is gonna turn out to be!!! Let’s come together people. I truly believe that at some point we really can find the will to stop hating and killing each other. Let’s do it RIGHT NOW!
