You’re bound to hear plenty of jamming at this year’s Classic Rhythm & Blues Cruise, which sets sail from San Diego on Saturday. If you can secure a berth, that is. In short, Blues Cruise is sold out, although spots may be available on the waiting list (1-800-BLUESIN).

“For the people that were lucky enough to get a ticket on this cruise, I am certain that they are in for a thrill of a lifetime,” said young San Jose-bred guitarist Shane Dwight, who’ll join such noted performers as Elvin Bishop, Buckwheat Zydeco, Susan Tedeschi and a revitalized Mavis Staples. “It is so amazing to see performers all willing to sit in and perform with each other just for the fun of it. This year’s line up is amazing.”

Those left on dry land still can enjoy Dwight’s own amazing (or perhaps foolhardy) lineup of two albums released on a single day in June: the half-live “Plays the Blues” and the musically varied “Gimme Back My Money” (both VizzTone). One positive was that “I was able to showcase my songwriting ability and record songs regardless of what genre people want to classify them,” Dwight said. “One of the drawbacks is that we are selling 700-800 CDs a week between the two CDs, which would rank us in the top-five sales from Soundscan in the blues category, but because each CD’s sales are tracked separately, we don’t get that recognition.”

Band of the sand: You won’t see any cruise ships in the southern Sahara, but that’s where you’ll find “desert rebel rockers” Tinariwen. Much like the best Ry Cooder musical journeys, although in this case the musicians are (re)visiting their own homeland in Mali, the remarkable album “Imidiwan: Companions” (out this week on World Village, appropriately) electrifies as Tinariwen reconnects with its musical roots and its people. Included is a half-hour documentary of the same name.

Read more: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-10-14/things-to-do/concerts-music-clubs/tenor-man-karl-denson-an-unlikely-member-of-the-jam-band-family#ixzz0V4aFEFih