SAMARA JOY, TAKE 6, JOSE JAMES ADDED TO THE LINEUP FOR CHRIS BOTTI AT SEA

Newly minted GRAMMY winner Samara Joy, gospel and jazz icons Take 6 and the exciting, genre-bending vocalist Jose James have just been added to the lineup of Chris Botti at Sea, a luxury cruise personally curated by Botti himself. They will join the incomparable musician, David Foster, Gregory Porter, Katharine McPhee, Melody Gardot, International Mentalist Lior Suchard, Keb Mo, and Lisa Fischer as well as Taylor Eigsti,  Sy Smith,  John Splithoff,  Eric Marienthal, Music Director Emmet Cohen,  Randy Brecker,  Wycliffe Gordon and the Chris Botti Band.  Chris Botti at Sea sails February 8 – 15, 2024 from Miami to Aruba and Curacao on Celebrity Cruises’ Summit, the voyage features a world of entertainment, the very best in music, accommodations and destinations.  

Jazz Cruises, LLC, the gold standard for music cruises at sea since 2001, will produce the cruise, undertake the reservation process and provide programming and technical support.  With more than 80 full-ship charters to its credit, Jazz Cruises has produced themed programs of all types throughout the world.  

The cruise features a 2,100-passenger ship and will head out to Aruba and Curacao, the gems of the Caribbean Sea.  But it is the entertainment that separates Chris Botti at Sea from other programs.  Botti hand-picked most of the performers and each one of them is both a star and an exciting performer in their own right.  

Samara Joy is the second jazz artist to win the coveted Best New Artist GRAMMY Award, which she took home earlier this year along with a trophy for Best Jazz Vocal Album.  She previously won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition and was named the Best New Artist of 2021 by Jazz Times. Samara has performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Newport Jazz Festival, Winter Jazzfest, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall and has toured with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. 

Take 6 is a groundbreaking ensemble, bringing jazz, gospel and a capella together like no other group. They have won eight GRAMMY Awards (with 19 nominations), won 10 Dove Awards, a Soul Train Award and received multiple NAACP Image Award nominations. This year marks the 35th anniversary of their debut, self-titled album. 

Jose James continues to be one of the most innovative vocalists in contemporary music, winning awards and fans with his stirring alchemy of jazz, soul and spoken word. His work has received the Edison Award and the Academie du Jazz Grand Prix’s Best Jazz Album.  James has performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Victoria Jazz Festival and Central Park Summerstage in New York City. 

Since the release of his debut recording in 2004, trumpeter Chris Botti has become the largest-selling American instrumental artist.  His success has crossed over to audiences usually reserved for pop music and his ongoing association with PBS has led to four #1 jazz albums, earning certification as both Gold and Platinum selling recordings, as well as numerous Grammy nominations and awards.  Over the past three decades, Botti has recorded and performed with the best in music, including Sting, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga, Josh Groban, Yo-Yo Ma, Michael Bublé, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, John Mayer, Andrea Bocelli, Joshua Bell, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and even Frank Sinatra. Hitting the road for as many as 300 days per year, the trumpeter has also performed with many of the finest symphonies and at some of the world’s most prestigious venues from Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl to the Sydney Opera House and the Real Teatro di San Carlo in Italy.  And Botti’s month-long residency at Blue Note New York is a longstanding staple of the holiday season.