Legends and veterans

Charles Lloyd (now 86) knew his way around spiritual jazz with flute and tenor sax decades ago. This year he returns with a great lineup of musicians, including pianist Jason Moran, with whom he released one of the most powerful albums of his career this year: The Sky Will Be There Tomorrow, full of melancholic blues-drenched jazz.

Guitarist Al Di Meola has also often performed at the festival, most recently in 2002, but never before in Rotterdam. In the 1970s, together with keyboardist Chick Corea and the band Return To Forever, he was present at the birth of jazz’s fusion revolution. A completely new generation can now experience his unique lightning-fast solos.

Speaking of legends, Cuban pianist and composer Chucho Valdés is now in his eighties, but still swings like crazy. This year he is celebrating the 50th anniversary of his groundbreaking band Irakere and promises to bring at least three original band members to Rotterdam.