The New Mastersounds on Jam Cruise 22, photo by Gabby Barbieri

Jam Cruise 22 continued its voyage on Tuesday with another full day of music at sea. There’s nothing like confining the foremost artists from the jam world to a boat to spur a celebration of community, and with all passengers now firm on their sea legs, the festival’s penultimate program was defined by spontaneous homage and collaboration.

Following earlier appearances from Fireside Collective, Mihali, Flying Mojito Bros, Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz’s yacht rock super-session and Eggy keyboardist Dani Battat, who supported the Positive Legacy charity auction with a solo piano performance, sundown on day four was scored by BALTHVS. The Colombian neo-psychedelia trio, augmented by Bearly Dead bassist Sarah Elaz, cultivated spellbinding intrigue on the Pool Deck with hypnotic grooves diverging from their floor-filling Friday-night introduction. Ease ran through their breathy vocals, prowling around and graceful stylistic changes, which intermingled dubby meditations with disco-grade dance-breaks and a take on “Shakedown Street.”

Nestled at the bottom of the ship’s three-floor central concourse, the Atrium is the most intimate of Jam Cruise’s eight stages, and Ivan Neville was the first of Tuesday’s performers to make use of the uncommon closeness. The storied New Orleans artist sat at the grand piano and led all of his Dumpstaphunk bandmates through a series of stirring covers, including Bill Withers’ “Lean On Me,” Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” and a finale of “Que Sera, Sera” in the style of Sly & The Family Stone. Between numbers, the bandleader poured out personal reflections and thanked the audience for taking part in his favorite thing to do.

For many Jam Cruise attendees, The New Mastersounds’ Pool Deck set will have been their last chance to catch the band in action. After more than earning their place among the most exciting jazz-fusion outfits of the 21st century, the Leeds-bred quartet’s second set of the festival formally punctuated their TTFN (Ta-Ta For Now) US farewell tour, and the send-off wasn’t so much bittersweet as an all-out party. The group emptied the tank with a barrage of richly detailed romps like the riotous “Passport” and heavier Southern soul-style breakdowns like “MRG,” while their funk finesse was on full display on the fan-favorite “Freckles.”

Back in the Atrium, The Sweet Lillies marked their sixth consecutive year aboard Jam Cruise with a set that stretched far beyond Americana’s traditional bounds with covers and special guests. While remaining rooted in their bluegrass expertise, the quartet tapped George Porter for their recently released collaboration “Everybody’s Glad To See Ya,” then leaned into their hip-hop side with Lebo on Cypress Hill’s “Insane in the Brain” and called up Sammi Garrett to helm a full-cast closer of “Turn the Beat Around.” Meanwhile, in the Golden Jazz Bar, the powerhouse trio of DTF (Adam Deitch, Ari Teitel and Sam Fribush) laid down more throwback jams with a filthy New Orleans-style organ trio take on Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison.”

After a triumphant return from their four-year live hiatus on Monday, Medeski Martin & Wood’s follow-up in the Pantheon Theater showed the legendary trio deeply entranced in their incomparable style of avant-garde jazz fusion. An uninterrupted battery of jagged bass rumbles, plodding synth stings and frenetic breakbeats spirited the band into a suspenseful and mysterious tone fitting for a vintage spy flick, which in turn disintegrated into a more mellow cadence. In the latter half of their set, the band expanded their sound with guest spots from Skerik, Eric “Benny” Bloom and Datrian Johnson, the latter of whom’s bluesy vocals were exceedingly rare for the instrumental project.

Parlor Greens’ set on the Brews At Sea Stage showed just how much room the soul-jazz organ trio leaves for experimentation in their live show, as the powerhouse combination of Tim Carman, Jimmy James and Adam Scone poked new holes in their originals to embed surprising new riffs and interplay. After their set, James sauntered across the top deck to sit in with Diggin’ Dirt, who tapped into something animal in their unrelenting funk work-outs with support from Karl Denson.

Tuesday’s final notes rang out from the Jam Room, where Jake Brownstein led a rotating ensemble through fully improvised performances. Relying entirely on a shared musical language and thoroughly honed instincts to work up some intricate and impactful songs, the Eggy guitarist featured support from his bandmates, The Disco Biscuits’ Marc Brownstein and Aron Magner, Octave Cat’s Eli Winderman, Lebo, Skerik, Elaz, Johnson and many more for more than three hours in the moment of creation.

Jam Cruise 22 will return to port tonight with one last packed schedule. Get an inside look at last night’s shows in the gallery below.