Jools Holland, the king of rhythm and blues, to conquer the high seas

Ships, Jools Holland is telling me, were part of every Deptford boy’s childhood in the 1960s. There were behemoth black-hulled cargo ships and pootling wooden pleasure boats: great for a morning’s boat-spotting with a bag of chips. The docksides, with their great pilings of spices and timber, were a hive of activity. “There was this particular, pungent air,” Holland recalls.

“It’s gone now, but it was distinctly Thames-y: diesel and river and something undefinable. I’ve always thought I should have bottled it: the 1960s Greenwich Eau de Thames.”

The composer, pianist, bandleader and broadcaster, now 60, shows no signs of slowing down. Series 52 of the much-loved BBC Two music show Later… with Jools Holland has just finished airing, and in September Holland and his 19-piece Rhythm and Blues Orchestra will embark on a 36-date nationwide tour that will see them improve on their annual average of 250,000 audience members a year.

Then there’s the project that has got Holland musing about his Thameside childhood: a new gig as the face of The Club by Jools restaurant and bar on Saga Cruises’ first new-build ship, Spirit of Discovery, launching in 2019.

“Whether it’s the merchant navy or a luxury cruise there’s just something about boats,” says Holland, recalling childhood memories of his uncle taking him on board the navy ships docked at Greenwich. “Walking across the gangplank you’d enter another world – each would have its own air of romance.”

Hollands’ five-year relationship with Saga will see him performing a number of shows on board the 999-passenger ship, with his first appearances confirmed for the Channel Island Hop (departing July 23, 2019), Gourmet Spain (August 3, 2019) and Natural Scandinavia cruises (August 17, 2019). For Holland, the sailings are a chance not only to follow the siren song of nautical romance, but also to get to know areas of Europe he has explored only cursorily: touring with his orchestra or with 70s chart-topping group Squeeze.

“There are parts of Spain and Scandinavia I’ve never seen,” he says. His wish list also includes the unspoiled coastline of Croatia and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea.

“Europe has so much regional variety. My fear is that in 20 years’ time we’ll all be driving the same cars and eating the same food.”

There’s also the privilege of arriving into great ports by sea. “You come across a city the way the old sailors did, via the handsome port buildings and waterfront. Landing at an airport and getting in by bus or taxi just doesn’t come close.”

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I wonder if Holland is looking forward to the food on the Gourmet Spain sailing – after all, the speciality restaurant in The Club by Jools promises meaty anglo-American fare, serving classic steaks from fillet and T-bone to rib-eye and the more unusual Tomahawk steak.

Is Holland a carnivore at heart? “Oh yes, I like steaks,” he says, “and tapas. To be honest, I’ll eat anything that’s put in front of me.”

Holland admits he is also looking forward to the opportunity to switch off on board. As always, he will travel with his sketchbook and diary, a few cigars and his phone; although he hopes the latter won’t molest him too much.  “It will be nice to just tuck myself away in my cabin and read,” he says, adding that his band usually keep to themselves on tour: more cigar and slippers than knocking back the contents of the minibar.

The Club by Jools interior will be designed with the cabaret lounges of the 1950s in mind – all resinous woods, red velvet and mood lighting. Performances will be similarly intimate, featuring a pared-down band of two singers with Holland on piano and Gilson Lavis (who has accompanied  Holland since they were fellow band-members in Squeeze) on drums.

Intimate gigs like these, Holland explains, are his lifeblood as a musician. “I love those shows where you play in a big jazz club in New York or Tokyo and you’re there all week,” he says. “But it’s in the smaller, old-fashioned cabaret spaces that the piano is most at home. And it’s often where the real magic happens.”

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Would he like to have experienced the Golden Age of cruising, when art-deco saloons reverberated to the newfangled strains of live jazz?

Holland laughs. “The Golden Age of cruising wasn’t yesterday, when they hadn’t quite figured out air-conditioning or how not to get sunk by an iceberg. And it won’t be tomorrow either, when you’re not allowed to travel to certain places. The golden age of cruising is now.”