Line up
North Sea
Jazz 2016
complete

Previously, performances by Pharrell Williams, The Roots, Gregory Porter, Jill Scott, Earth, Wind & Fire, Pat Metheny & Ron Carter, Simply Red, Joe Bonamassa, Miguel, Flying Lotus, Kamasi Washington, Snarky Puppy, and Artist in Residence Ibrahim Maalouf, among others, were announced for this year's festival.

There are some special projects on this year’s program, such as Michael Mantler. This Vienna trumpeter, composer and bandleader moved to the U.S. in the 1960s and made the free jazz album The Jazz Composer’s Orchestra in 1968, with band members like Don Cherry and Pharoah Sanders. In 2014 he made an update, released on the famous ECM label, for which the original score was adapted to accommodate a big band with string quartet.

We will also celebrate the 100th anniversary of Boy Edgar. He became a legend on the Dutch jazz scene; Edgar worked with both traditional and experimental musicians, which was an anomaly in a time when both genres were mostly diametrically opposed. And he was a family doctor, too. It goes without saying that the prestigious Boy Edgar Prize was established in his name. North Sea Jazz will feature a concert to commemorate Edgar by the Konrad Kosselleck Big Band with some special guests.

Composition assignement

Each year, the North Sea Jazz Festival commissions a promising Dutch jazz composer to write a free composition. In 2016, the honour goes to clarinetist and composer Joris Roelofs. The jury motivates its decision to award Joris Roelofs the Composition Assignment as follows: “Joris Roelofs stands out with his distinctive and unique sound. The variations in his pieces create a contemporary, genuine and mature sound. The listener is taken into a new world in an organic way.” Joris Roelofs will premiere his composition on Friday in Madeira