Rick MacWilliams, Michel Lavigniac, Paul Nossiter

Bright sunshine and clear skies greeted folks at the sold-out Jazz Boat on Sunday, August 24^th.   As we left Onset Harbor, The Bourbon Street Paraders Trio played their theme song, Bourbon St. Parade.  “Lets fly down, or drive down, to New Orleans.”    Great idea, but for those of us who can’t make it to New Orleans, the Jazz Boat is a good substitute on summer Sundays.

A soft breeze made it a pleasant trip up and down the Cape Cod Canal with the Trio playing some tunes that originated in New Orleans, others from the 20’s to the 50’s:  Hoagie Carmichael’s Up a Lazy River, 1920’s Whispering, 1948 Frank Loesser’s Slow Boat to China, Louis Armstrong’s Someday You’ll Be Sorry.

Paul Nossiter is singing Clarence Williams’ Baby Won’t You Please Come Home as we cruise by the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and its training ship, the Kennedy.

Massachusetts Maritime Academy

Paul has an extensive background in music in this country and in Europe.  He’s played with many of the great Jazz Players.  I Want a Little Girl was his wife’s favorite song.  (George Wein gave him the gift of Jimmy Rushing singing it at his wedding in Newport RI! )  Paul gave us his resounding version here on the Cape Cod Canal.

In 1974, Nossiter played with Dick Sudhalter’s  New Paul Whiteman Orchestra in London.  Michael Steinman wrote about it on Jazz Lives.  Eventually Nossiter settled in Cape Cod.  For the last 60 years he’s been breathing new life into melodies that will never get old.

We slowly progressed up the canal with New Orleans Shuffle – WOW – grab a railing and hang on!  In the past, The Viking  turned around in Cape Cod Bay; if we kept going, we could go whale-watching near Provincetown.  But we turned around after the Sagamore bridge.  People bicycling and jogging on the trail along the canal waved as they shared the  Muskat Ramble with us.

The band took a short break.  Folks moved to the lower deck where there’s a full bar and snacks.  But you are allowed to bring your own lunch and beverage if you wish, anything except liquor.

We passed the Herring Run – quiet in June.  Active in April when the herring come in off the ocean to fight their way against the current up the steps to spawn in Herring Pond. It’s active again in early fall, with many blue herons watching, as the tiny fry swim down the steps and back out to sea.  They instinctively know to return where they were hatched in the spring.

The Herring Run

The steps – only the strongest herring make it.

Tuba Player Rick MacWilliams is leader of the Commonwealth Jazz Band that plays before and after Celtic Games at the TD Garden, and lunchtime in the summer at Norman B. Leventhal Park, Post Office Square, Boston,  and he’s also with the famous Wolverine Jazz Band.   Rick maintains the chords – sometimes pushing the band, sometimes playing melody as in I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter.

Rick MacWilliams

This is Parisian Michel Lavigniac’s 36th year with the Bourbon St. Paraders.  We’ve been listening to him for over 25.  His solo of The World Is Waiting For the Sunrise  was a resonating  approach to the end of this cruise.

Our journey always ends with the Viking easing back into Onset Harbor with everyone clapping and singing to The Saints.

August 31^st was the Bourbon Street Paraders’ last cruise on the Viking for this year. They’ll be back next summer, from the last week of June to Labor Day 2015. See you there?