Swingin' Sundays -- Jazz Cruises Delight Fans And Help Support Kplu

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The Starbucks Caffe Cruise Brunch Series continues Sept. 10 with The Clarence Acox Sextet; Sept. 24, The Lloyd Jones Struggle; and Oct.1, New Stories. Tickets are $29.50 and must be purchased in advance by calling KPLU weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., (800) 677-5758. The cruises leave from Pier 55 at the downtown Seattle waterfront promptly at 10:30 a.m. and return at 1 p.m. -----------------------------------------------------------------

There comes a telling moment on every KPLU jazz cruise when you can separate the hard-core jazz fans from those on board merely for a good time. When the brunch buffet opens on the downstairs level of the boat, some listeners, like clockwork, leave their upper-level chairs where the live band is playing, and head, politely but with unswerving determination, for the elegant downstairs buffet.

The jazz maniacs among us love this moment. We wait for it.

If we missed getting really good seats in the front of the band, this is the chance to pounce. Let the brunchers eat their smoked salmon, croissants and fruit spears standing up, or downstairs, or out on the deck. The rest of us will soak up the sublime happiness of sitting center front, 10 or 15 feet away from what is invariably one of Western Washington's top jazz combos, listening to the music and gazing out the windows at the passing shorelines of Puget Sound.

The truth is, everyone - jazzoids, buffet fans, and those who simply like a scenic, music-enhanced harbor cruise - seems to have a good time on the Sunday cruises, which are produced by KPLU-FM (88.5). Starting with a series of three Sunday brunch cruises in the summer of 1991, the station has expanded the program to include seven floating concerts, a schedule that this year stretches into the early fall with a final cruise on Oct. 1.

Such is their popularity that the cruises sell out several weeks in advance, though there still are tickets for the remaining cruises on Sept. 10, Sept. 24 and Oct. 1.

Greg Coe, KPLU's promotions coordinator, says cruisers are evenly divided among those who are on board for the boat ride, those who like the food, and those who follow the local jazz scene. Seattle's energetic jazz scene has loyal fans, many of whom also listen to KPLU, a Tacoma station that programs mostly jazz when it's not broadcasting National Public Radio news programs.

Boon for KPLU

But hooking up in 1991 with Starbucks Coffee Co. has also been a boon, says Coe. Starbucks is the major underwriter for the cruise series, providing coffee, of course, and financial support to help rent the Spirit of Seattle, the cruise boat on which the brunches are held. Starbucks also helps pay the band. Other co-sponsors are Upper Crust Catering Co., which handles buffet preparation; PCC Natural Markets, which provides food; and Seaport Fisheries, which donates smoked salmon.

In five years some 7,400 passengers have taken the cruises. Coe says about $25 of each $29.50 benefits the nonprofit station. He also says the idea is so successful he's seen it copied by other local radio stations and tour boat companies.

Joey Cohn, KPLU's music director, says, "We try to program as much variety as possible into the cruises and find jazz that fits the mood of a cruise. We look for the best local performers and also work in one or two blues acts, a vocalist or two."

Of the remaining cruises this year for which tickets still are available, the Clarence Acox Sextet plays straight ahead, bebop-tinged standards and original tunes; Lloyd Jones is a hot Portland blues guitarist; and New Stories is a combo led by Marc Seales, one of the Seattle's most talented jazz pianists. Coe says the station tries not to book the same acts two years in a row, and likes to spotlight groups with new recordings.

In July, KPLU hosted its first floating concert featuring a national act, Kansas City-based Karrin Allyson, an engaging up-and-coming vocalist. Though she looks like a dimpled, well-scrubbed Midwestern farm girl, Allyson has the pure, clear jazz chops of a June Christy or an Anita O'Day. For fans of jazz singing, listening to her wend her way through a bluesy, heart-string tugging "Azure-Te" as the sun beamed down on the cobalt water was heaven. Dancing on the deck

Of course, you don't have to sit in front of the band. And on a sunny day, plenty of cruisers prefer dancing on the outside deck or staying near the food downstairs. The music is piped everywhere on board, and lots of people take their mimosas and coffee outside to watch the passing beaches of Bainbridge or the Alki shoreline. Though the boat is licensed to hold nearly 600 passengers, Coe says KPLU considers 350 a full house, leaving plenty of room to wander around. Cruises have the feel of a well-planned but casual private party.

Coe says there are only two real hurdles with producing the cruises: "One of the hardest things about the whole program is getting the musicians up that early," said Coe. "Most of them have late night gigs the night before. Getting the sound equipment hoisted on board can also be tough. We had a 22-piece band on there once. That wasn't easy."

Surprisingly in Rain City U.S.A., however, Coe says the weather has never been a problem. The cruises go on rain or shine, since there's plenty of room indoors if it rains.

"But we've never had it rain during a cruise," said Coe. "It's rained while we're boarding, or when people were leaving. But never during the cruise. There's a certain line of thinking around here that the divine powers prefer jazz."