North Sea Jazz Festival

The Festival setup is like last year and years before. However the security concerns are becoming a more and more relevant factor also for this Festival. Only small bags can be taken so I am walking around without rucksack and just what I can have in my jeans.

Atmosphere as always good. While a bit less variation in food then before, now more non food stands.

At any point in time you can choose between any of the thirteen venues. While some concerts one or two a day need an additional ticket.... like yesterday evening the concert of Steve Winwood. So the challenge is always to be a the right Concert whatever right means for you. Sometimes you have to make hard choices.

The music is mainly dominated by jazz, however the big venues have blues, soul and even hip hop acts. Last night they had for instance Grace Jones, Joss Stone, Usher and others. As I am coming for jazz I tend to not see those concerts.

For me the event is music and a couple of iced capuchinos....

My first concert was Wayne Shorter with a symphony orchestra. This was dissapointing. The first couple of numbers was with the quartet and this was the enjoyable part of the concert. After two quartet numbers the orchestra came on stage and it became uninteresting for me...., so I left....attached the by NSJ published video..

My next concert was the LABTrio. A young trio from Belgium. They play a very enjoyable mix of rhythm numbers and inspired by classical music. I very much liked the number inspired by Andres Jormin... I knew them already as I have the discography....., if you don't know them have a look at them. Interesting modern jazz....

Bert Schurink posted:

My next concert was the LABTrio. A young trio from Belgium. They play a very enjoyable mix of rhythm numbers and inspired by classical music. I very much liked the number inspired by Andres Jormin... I knew them already as I have the discography....., if you don't know them have a look at them. Interesting modern jazz....

 

For those interested, classical inspired for instance Goldberg Variations or Well Tempered Klavier...

After that I had a look at Dave Grusin and Lee Ritenour. This was enjoyable, but it was clear that Dave Grusin was more supporting than a guy still in the middle. Lee was the star of the show with good second place by the drummer which I guess is Lee's son...., he was a kind of young copy of Dave Weckl - sometimes being a bit too busy for the overall balance, but as ex drummer I enjoyed it. 

The concert of Marquis Hill was for me the highlight of the evening. His Blackett drove the music sometimes based on some standards but completely re-imaging them. I already had his album, but will now have a couple of more spins to again explore it. An absolute delight....

 Next on was Chick Corea Electric Band. Not as with Dave Grusin...., Chick is still at the center of the stage and delivering with his band a high quality show. A very established group of musicians, good but also not exploring unknown territory....

My last concert of the evening was Avishai Cohen (trumpet). This was also a great concert. His music is really something special. I still know him from his trio times and I am still amazed how he has the whole stage with just a trumpet. He now produced two great albums on ECM, the concert was about the music of these two albums. It was late after a 7 hours drive - but it kept me captivated....

Thanks for your efforts, Bert.  I will take the time over the next few days to view all the videos in full.  Hope you enjoy your remaining time at the festival. regards, Jeff A

Wow, thanks Bert, I'm glad you enjoyed nearly all of it, and I'll watch those videos over the next few days, I'm looking forward to finding some new musicians to enjoy. Thanks again.

Just now looking back on yesterday's Festival day while still one day to go. I had the feeling it was less great - while I had some fantastic moments as well. Unfortunately I didn't have the plus tickets so I couldn't see Norah Jones which would have been nice...

My first concert of the day was the David Helbock. He played mostly music of his most recent album into the mystic. As expected very enjoyable. What was special for me to see somebody playing a picollo bass and the nice and full sound it had. Absolutely an artist to further explore..

After that I sneaked for a short while into Michiel Stekelenburg 5 - was a laid back number, so difficult to access, and was also on my way to see an old colleague / friend which I hadn't seen for 20 years. What I had heard in the afternoon however gave me the impression that I have to check him more out...

Before that I had also sneaked 2 minutes into the concert of George Benson, sounded good and solid. But as mentioned before one is forced to make choices....

Then I moved to Christian McBrides new jawn. Great band with him, drums, trumpet and saxophone. One can understand why he is the bass of so many groups. They made a lot of use of individual solos and less of group interplay between saxophone and trumpet. But I enjoyed it a lot and stayed until the end...

Then I moved to the quintet of Rava and Stanko. Absolutely great Rava played flugelhorn and Stanko played the trumpet. They had a good supporting band and it was dynamic and lyrical at the same time...., in the top three of the evening...

Then i sneaked into Mary J Blige. Just heard two songs, sounded good, but not so much my favorite music...

The absolute highlight of the evening was the Rogier Telderman Trio. Absolute beauty in melodic lines and interplay in the trio. If he continues like that he might become a force to reckon with in European jazz. If you like lyrical jazz with great interplay give a listen to his album, on Bandcamp....

The last of the evening was Ben Wendel. And it was a pity that I was tired. So I only listened for three tracks and then went back. But what I heard was good enough to motivate me to have a closer listen. Very lyrical use of the saxophone. Good supporting band with a pianist I like....., don't be surprised if his album lands on my buying list soon....

Bert Schurink posted:

The last of the evening was Ben Wendel. And it was a pity that I was tired. So I only listened for three tracks and then went back. But what I heard was good enough to motivate me to have a closer listen. Very lyrical use of the saxophone. Good supporting band with a pianist I like....., don't be surprised if his album lands on my buying list soon....

 

 

 

Just read he is one of the founding members of Kneebody....

For people interested in seeing some clips from the concerts, the Dutch broadcasting company NTR has made a summary of the first two days. Including some interviews with artist. 

http://www.uitzendinggemist.ne.../North_Sea_Jazz.html

Bert Schurink posted:

The absolute highlight of the evening was the Rogier Telderman Trio. Absolute beauty in melodic lines and interplay in the trio. If he continues like that he might become a force to reckon with in European jazz. If you like lyrical jazz with great interplay give a listen to his album, on Bandcamp....

 

Thanks Bert for posting this one. I haven't heard them yet. Will check them out on bandcamp. Regards, Jeroen.

Jeroen20 posted:

For people interested in seeing some clips from the concerts, the Dutch broadcasting company NTR has made a summary of the first two days. Including some interviews with artist. 

http://www.uitzendinggemist.ne.../North_Sea_Jazz.html

 

Thanks for sharing this - almost looks like I have been visiting another Festival, as they show the bigger acts....

It ended again. With some level of sadness....., I will have to wait again a full year for this unique Festival. The next big in between Festival will be the So What Next Festival in Eindhoven in November, which will help me survive till July 2018. Tomorrow I will post the last impressions of this years festival. 

Started the Sunday with Phronesis and the New Rotterdam Jazz Orchestra...., it was the start of some big band sound. Was a great concert with nice contrasts with guys in black and Phronesis in White. The drummer again did his act by drumming with table knives....enjoyable but I couldn't see the end as I needed to go to Chick Corea...