Friday 12 July 2024
‘Some festivals save the best act for last, we begin with it,’ said presenter Mijke Loeven preceding the concert by saxophonist Chris Potter, pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Jonathan Blake. The super quartet got off to a brisk start, but allowed more stillness and lyricism from some twenty minutes onwards. Combining playing pleasure and quality, the musicians challenged each other to great heights.
At the Nile, Shirma Rouse paid a spectacular tribute to Aretha Franklin (1942 – 2018). Rouse highlighted the gospel sides of her American role model as well as hit songs like ‘Respect’, ‘Think’, ‘Natural Woman’ and a surprising rendition of the Rolling Stones classic ‘I Can’t Get No Satisfaction’. The Rotterdam-based singer was rousingly accompanied by the Royal Air Force Orchestra composed of 41 horns and a seven-member rhythm section.
In the past, commissioned composers had to perform quite often in front of small or half-full halls. Tijn Wybenga took a bigger approach: he wrote his work for singer Lizz Wright, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and the Metropole Orchestra, which he conducted himself. Central to his composition was the story of a refugee from Syria and the question: where to find human warmth and comfort when everything has been taken away from you? Lizz Wright helped write the lyrics and played an important role in conveying this poignant music.
Isaiah Collier’s performance began trance-like with calm piano music and nature sounds. When the bandleader put his saxophone to his lips, there came more passion in the playing of the Chosen Few in which drummer Jonathan Blake once again played along. The spirit of John Coltrane seemed to have descended during the concert. In his incantatory lyrics, Collier appealed for love and world peace.
Guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel belongs to the generation of musicians who revived jazz in the 1990s. A quarter of a century later, he called his old friends tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, bassist Ben Street and drummer Jeff Ballard back on stage for a reunion. As it turned out, the fire was far from extinguished.
Bassist Avishai Cohen showed a very different side this 47th edition of the festival. For his latest project, he collaborated with singer and congero Abraham Rodriguez junior. The duo’s Afro-Caribbean rhythms were complemented by the singing and dancing of Virginia Alvarez and contributions from saxophonist Yosvany Terry, trumpeter Diego Urcola and percussionist José Angel. ‘Actually, this is dance music,’ Cohen encouraged the audience. Attempts by an usher to direct the dancing people from the centre aisle to the side were stranded when a sensually moving lady carried the helpless guy along in her dance.
On the first day, the weather was not very cooperative, which was especially bad for the artists on the outdoor stages. The Amsterdam Klezmer Band was not deterred by these conditions and built a happy Yiddish-Balkan party in the drizzling rain.
Usually concerts at North Sea Jazz start on time, but Raye’s was an exception. Raye’s connecting performance, however, more than made up for that, especially when she went deep into the dust, saying how embarrassed she was that she had kept waiting the audience of ‘this important jazz festival’. Raye’s lyrics are personal, her presentation infectious and laced with dry, British humour. Her voice, accompanied by her tight-playing orchestra, sounded magisterial through the Nile.
North Sea Jazz announced today that the festival will remain in Rotterdam at least until 2031.
Saturday, 13 July
The ensemble of British trumpeter and bandleader Matthew Halsall opened the second day of the festival with an impressive combination of acoustic and electronic music. Harp, trumpet, piano, bass and percussion sounded dreamily soothing thanks to the soundscapes and the electronic beats.
Artist-in-residence Meshell Ndegeocello had made a somewhat ambivalent start in the Congo on the first day. The audience could hardly hear what she said and the sound of her music was unbalanced. Saturday at the Hudson, she took glorious revenge with a varied, convincing and occasionally even poignant set. The Washington DC-based musician indicated that she was physically unwell due to a virus. The songs from her album Omnichord Real Book ranged from a simple but effectively beautiful ballad about the thoughts that can keep you awake at night to space-jazz with layered rhythms. When the band laid down a fitting final chord just in time and presenter Kees van Boven was about to announce the end of the concert, Ndegeocello decided, to everyone’s amazement, to put in another tune.
Vibraphonist Joel Ross played blues-rooted music from his new album nublues in the Madeira. The young musicians of the band did not allow the audience a moment’s rest and let all the songs flow into each other.
The members of thee Sacred Souls made more use of their communication skills. The American group built a sparkling soul party in the best Motown tradition with a contemporary call for love and acceptance. Vocalist Josh Lane took a warm bath in the Rotterdam audience halfway through.
US formation Something Else brought the Madeira to boiling point with a contagious set of soul jazz standards. Alongside the tight-playing horns of alto saxophonist Vincent Herring, tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, the playing of agile pianist Dave Kikoski, working towards a climax each time, was a pleasure to watch and listen to.
Sunday 14 July
The Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw provided its own supporting act: for the first half hour the orchestra led by conductor Jim Neely played pieces from the album Threnody with Peter Beets behind the grand piano. Then pianist Shai Maestro joined in, broadening the musical palette with oriental timbres. Maestro’s music echoed the pain of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The pianist said he hoped music could contribute to peace.
Replacing the absent trumpeter Terence Blanchard, North Sea Jazz visitors were offered a duo performance by bassist Christian McBride and saxophonist Joshua Redman. The playful ease with which these two veterans juggled with standards and their own songs was a delight to experience. Between songs, Redman told how happy he was to have met McBride in the 1990s and how much musical richness their journey together has brought.
Terri Lyne Carrington performed at North Sea Jazz last year as well. The percussionist and bandleader tries to create space for more women on jazz stages in many ways. On Friday night, she showcased new female talents in the Missouri, such as the group of trumpeter Milena Casado, who is also a member of her own band. On Sunday, Carrington played from ‘New Standards’, the music book of 101 pieces by female composers that she compiled herself. Between the instrumentalists moved a dancer who replied to the music in her own way.
Trumpeter Dave Douglas, who performed at the festival before, invents something new every time he shows up. This time, his fellow musicians were at least 40 years younger than the band leader. The music they brought was in the experimental phase. The highlights were Douglas’ arrangements of some Billie Strayhorn compositions, such as a funky rendition of ‘Take the A-Train’.
An unexpected surprise turned out to be Imaginarium. This Rotterdam-based band re-energised jazz lovers who had grown a little tired after three days with a deliciously danceable mix of afrobeat, reggae and electronica at the Murray.
Sting closed this 47th edition with a generous sampling of his rich repertoire. In 1979, I recorded the Police concert from the Pinkpop Festival that was broadcast live on the radio on a cassette tape. Many of the songs from then, Sting played again in a line-up of bass, guitar and drums. ‘Iooohoo’ and ‘Ioohoho’ he sang at exactly the same moments as then. Sting hardly seemed to have aged and he sounded if possible even better than he did 45 years ago.
Pictures: Ron Beenen
