It was during Samora Pinderhughes‘ set when the thunderstorm hit. You could hear the thunder inside the hall while he was just announcing his next song. Samora played tunes from his formidable album “Grief” and he had the pleasure of working with the North Sea String Quartet which happened to be special guest for several…
It was even hotter on Saturday than the day before and there were a lot of weather warnings on and off stage. But I had a good shot of freshly squeazed juice out of spinach, celery, fennel, lemon, and cucumber which easily got me through the day. Newcomer Jalen Ngonda opened the Congo tent in…
So here we are again. North Sea Jazz in Rotterdam has started on a sweltering day. My first show of the festival was a classic: pianist Kenny Barron, who recently turned 80 and who remembered the days at The Hague and couldn’t really tell when he first started to play at North Sea, played a…
It’s been an incredibly busy start of the outdoor season for us. Thanks to everybody who came out to see our two live shows which we staged on April 30th and May 29th. We had a lot of fun with both Three4Soul who got us grooving and moving, and the wonderful voice of Maiko Andreo….
Who knows if it’s really her Farewell Tour. Anyway, Anita Baker has just been added to the roster of this year’s North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam’s Ahoy, July 12-14. Anita will play five nights at the Venetian Theater in Las Vegas between May 31st and June 8th and she’ll also play the Capital Jazz…
Already lined up for this year’s North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam is an amazing group of artists which you will never see anywhere else over a three-day period I think. Friday, July 7th will feature Cory Henry & the Funk Apostles, Usher & the Roots, Wayne Shorter Quartet with Casco Philharmonic, Steve Winwood, Makaya…
Rudresh Mahanthappa opened the final day of the 40th North Sea Jazz Edition. And even though he was offering the music from his most recent Charlie Parker-inspired project, I couldn’t really draw the line to the saxophone hero. But nevertheless, the band was delivering, especially 20-year old Adam O’Farrill (yes he’s from that family). Curtis…
“Music Is Our Healing. It’s our spiritual language”, said legendary pianist Randy Weston during his duo appearance with the equally impressive Billy Harper at last night’s performance in the Madeira hall at the North Sea Jazz Festival. Randy Weston, now 89, very early in his career incorporated the rhythms of Africa, most prominently those of…
It was the perfect start to the 40th anniversary edition of the North Sea Jazz Festival last night. Jarrod Lawson & The Good People opened the night at Congo with their unbelievably funky, soulful, and intense set. Like in previous concerts I saw in Paris and Berlin, here’s a future Soul star with a mesmerizing…
After a smooth flight into Amsterdam and an enjoyable train ride to Rotterdam, I finally reached my apartment and to my surprise, it is even closer to the Ahoy location where the festival takes place than I expected. My host Mike was kind enough to give me his bike for the weekend and it only…