The 2015 edition of the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, "the world's largest indoor music festival" will take place in the weekend of the 10-11-12 July 2015. The Festival, a member of Europe Jazz Network, has become a landmark in the European Festivals' calendar, and regarded as a model by many professionals.
The Festival proposes a mix of music stars, that go beyond the world of jazz, togeter with emerging talents and side events. Some of the main acts of the 2015 edition are Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea, Jamie Cullum, Melody Gardot, Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga, Mary J Blige, Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke, Vijay Iyer, Jack DeJohnette, Cassandra Wilson, Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter, John Legend, Roy Hargrove, Branford Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Beth Hart, Candi Staton, Dee Dee Bridgewater, David Sanborn, Lionel Richie, D'Angelo, and Chaka Khan. Han Bennik, the famous dutch drummer, is artist in residence at the Festival.
The first edition of the North Sea Jazz Festival took place in 1976 in the Nederlands Congresgebouw in The Hague. Some numbers in those early days: six venues, three hundred artists and about nine thousand visitors. In this very first festival year internationally renowned jazz legends performed, such as Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz, as well as most Dutch avant-garde artists.
In 2006, the festival moved to its current, bigger, location in Rotterdam. This year, the organisation expects more than a thousand musicians, spread out over 150 performances and thirteen different stages. Though the numbers of visitors were between 65.000 and 70.000 in recent years, the festival still manages to retain its intimate character.
The winner of this year’s art poster competition is Hanxiao Lu. Her design will be available at the festival both as a silkscreen print and on t-shirts.
Website: www.northseajazz.com
