New additions
CNSJ: Maná,
Chic featuring
Nile Rodgers
and more
Dianne Reeves and Maceo Parker are also announced for Friday and Chaka Khan, Sierra Maestra, and Dr John + The Nite Trippers for Saturday. It was confirmed earlier that Bruno Mars and Juan Luis Guerra are coming to the fifth edition of the festival. Moreover, the concert of Jose James is confirmed for Brakkeput Mei Mei on Wednesday 27 August.
During their performance at the 2012 edition of the festival, it was obvious that the Mexican band Maná is one of the biggest Latin-American bands in the world. Everyone was impressed with the band that scored many awards including four Grammy’s, seven Latin Grammy’s, and five Latin-American MTV Awards and has sold over 35 million albums worldwide. The call for their return had started before the band had even left the island.
With his first visit to the festival, Nile Rodgers and Chic got everyone effortlessly in motion. Not strange considering his impressive collection of hit songs he scored with Chic and other artists. Last year he added another gigantic success to the list with his cooperation to the hit of the year, Get Lucky together with Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams.
Since the 1980s, Dianne Reeves is considered one of the best jazz singers in the world; a worthy ‘successor’ to Dinah Washington and Carmen McRae. As a child, Reeves started playing the piano and developed into a superior interpreter of song lyrics and gifted scat singer. She also explored areas other than jazz as she worked with Sergio Mendes and toured with Harry Belafonte.
"Maceo, blow your horn!" This message alone should be enough to have every auditorium filled with people. For those who do not know yet: saxophonist Maceo Parker was the steady sideman of James Brown. Together with Pee Wee Ellis and Fred Wesley he formed the JB Horns. In the 1960s and 1970s, the unmistakeable sound of Maceo can be heard on the first great hits Papa’s Gotta Brand New Bag, Lickin’ Stick and Cold Sweat. For many years, he has been a star in his own right and represents the better kind of funk music.
Sierra Maestra from Havana is one of the most important performers of the Cuban son music. The nine-piece band, named after the mountain range where the son originates from, first came together in 1976 under the guidance of Juan d’Marcos. In the meantime, through their dedication to the repertoire of artists such as Arsenio Rodríguez on the one hand, and their own compositions on the other hand, the band has gained the reputation of guardians of a tradition, but also of brilliant innovators.
The career of Chaka Khan spans four decades in which she has won ten Grammy’s and has sold some 200 million albums worldwide. In the 1970s, Khan became known as frontwoman for the funkband Rufus before she made it as solo artist. Her debut album Chaka was released in 1978 and included the hit I’m Every Woman which was later followed by successful singles such as I Feel For You and Ain’t Nobody (with Rufus).
Malcolm John ‘Mac’ Rebennack, Jr., better known as Dr. John is a talented boogie and blues pianist with a ‘sandpaper’ voice from the birthplace of jazz: New Orleans. His repertoire ranges from his own ‘voodoo’ music for which he mixed New Orleans R&B with rock and Mardi Gras festivities, to the traditional blues and R&B. His music career spans over five decades in which he has made twenty albums and has won six Grammy’s.
At the moment talks are ongoing with the management of various artists to complete the line up of the fifth Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival.
More information about this festival can be found at www.curacaonorthseajazz.com.
