This year too, Blues Jazz Scenes online Magazine was present during the North Sea Jazz Festival to give an impression of the enormous event. No fewer than 46 editions have already preceded it and for this year a particularly wide range of diversity, styles and genres has been selected.
The excitement in the city had been palpable for weeks and the atmosphere was warmed up with the North Sea Round Town with an extensive program at all kinds of interesting locations in Rotterdam and the surrounding area. This year, July 12, 13 and 14 are the days where jazz music from the past, present and future is presented under one roof. More than 1,300 musicians gave more than 150 performances, spread over 16 stages in and around Rotterdam Ahoy, where around 85 to 90,000 visitors had the time of their lives.
In addition, there was also much to enjoy for art lovers. This time, galleries and exhibitions could be admired on three different floors in which established names but also up-and-coming talent exhibited all kinds of creative expressions. Blues Magazine focuses mainly on the music program of the festival that started this weekend under the name NN North Sea Jazz 2024…. We will publish the reports daily. Here is the report of day 1 with, among others, D.K. Harrell, Shirma Rouse, Raye, Brittany Howard.
When EMILY KING kicks off around four o’clock, many visitors are still stuck in traffic in or around Rotterdam. Traffic is a major source of annoyance today, partly due to the bad weather. Visitors who arrive on time will hear relaxed-sounding music in the Darling by the American singer/songwriter who has drawn from both soul and funk with melodic and self-written compositions. With her subdued way of singing, she nevertheless manages to grab attention quite easily. This audience is also looking forward to it and makes it clear. There is also appreciation in the musician circle and she is certainly not unknown. For example, Nora Jones, John Legend and José James, who we actually expected to find here this weekend after the recent release of his album ‘1978’, previously used her services. Brittany Howard, who also happens to be here today, and from whom we are also trying to gain something, also liked to make use of her qualities. Today she is only accompanied by guitarist Randy Runyon, with whom she mainly pays attention to the recently released ‘Special Occasion’, of which ‘This Year’ and the acoustic title track stand out.
EMILY KING
It is certainly also a ‘special occasion’ for KINGA GLYK, who is performing at this festival for the first time with her band and, as she has repeatedly shown, is very happy with it. Mississippi’s outdoor stage is where she shows off her antics on the bass guitar. The Polish musician can hardly believe that she can play here. She is honored by the large turnout so early in the day of all the enthusiasts present who appreciate her combination of jazz, funk and fusion loud and clear. It is not only instrumental because some vocal audience participation is also required in the adventurous ‘Fast Life’ from her recently released album ‘Real Life’.
For fans of Marcus Miller and Stanley Clarke, this up-and-coming talent is not just ‘a plan B’ if the gentlemen want to skip a year of NSJ, but really an absolute must. We can always call Glyk because she will definitely come.
KINGA GLYK
While it barely remains dry outside, the Congo tent is filled with audiences for the performance of SAMMY RAE & THE FRIENDS, the company that considers itself a family, but a family consisting of dreamers and artists. “So nice to be so far from home but still feel the love,” says the tough frontwoman who shows her vulnerable side. She sometimes sees the world through pink sunglasses while energetically jumping across the entire width. Here too, vocal assistance is requested from the audience during ‘It’s All Good’, which is sung along while the debut album has not even been released yet. It is not always played smoothly, but the enthusiasm makes up for a lot. You have also come to the wrong place here for depth, but there is plenty of positivity, as in ‘Luck of the Draw’, which is being played for the first time and is “about a bad day that can sometimes be completely through no fault of your own”. Look, we can do something with that. We leave the pleasant folk and fun funk for what it is because there is another great party upstairs on the terrace.
SAMMY RAE & THE FRIENDS
It is a standing tradition to attend the best Vrijmibo of the year on the roof terrace of the Tigris because that is where GERARD EKDOM’S FUNKY WEEKEND TRIP has started and there you can drink a beer from a cool glass bottle. He looks fresh, energetic and clearly ready for his switch to another radio station. The Treasure Cellar in which he keeps his beautiful music collection has finally dried up completely after a serious moisture problem and from all the beautiful things he has stored there, Ekdom has managed to select a nice playlist as can be heard here. What to think of ‘Me, Myself & I’ as we know it by De La Soul and of which everyone seems to know the lyrics and then put it in the mix with ‘Long Train Running’ by The Doobie Brothers.
OLIVIA DEAN
While he is playing, OLIVIA DEAN, in the Netherlands, ‘his discovery’, is currently playing a few dozen meters away. Last year he played her ‘Dive’ regularly on Radio10, which quickly secured a spot at the festival. A lot can change in a year, Ekdom has switched to Veronica and Dean, after her performance at the Darling, is now in the much larger but well-stocked Maas, shot up like a comet, no ‘UFO’, she opens with ‘OK Love You Bye’. Last week the Messy Tour took her to Down in the Rabbit Hole and before that even the big Glastonbury. It has clearly boosted her self-confidence. She is working hard to establish a name for herself with her introverted, sometimes very personal but also catchy pop songs. Last year I was heavily inspired by Lizzo, now almost able to sell out the largest hall herself. She clearly didn’t expect it to be so busy. “I remember last year that I was very nervous and thought “Damn, this will better be good”, she laughs about it and then steals the hearts of the audience again.
Someone who has also been stealing the hearts of the Dutch public for some time now is D.K. HARRELL who has embarked on a true triumphal march here with his band. In the Congo, there is no way to secure a good spot well before the start. People are eagerly awaiting this new ‘ambassador of authentic blues’ and since the blues offering seems to decrease more and more every year, the large crowds can be explained.
D.K. HARRELL
D.K. HARRELL is ‘The Right Man’ here, after his debut album released last year, in the right place. From super-funky to intense slow-blues, he doesn’t shy away from it. “I take My lovin’ from Spain to Tokyo, from North Sea Jazz to Ohio” is received with great enthusiasm far beyond the tent where everything can be followed on a large screen on Congo Square. He almost seems to knock the tent pegs, or rather poles, out of the old-fashioned swinging Congo tent.
Met lieve woordjes weet hij ieders blues-hart diep te raken en is zich terdege bewust dat zijn grote held B.B. King zo vaak op dit festival te zien was: “Ik moet zeggen, het is als een droom die uitkomt om op dit festival te mogen spelen, Ik ben speciaal voor jullie naar Rotterdam gekomen om de ‘D.K. Harrell-blues’ te spelen”, aldus de jonge player.”Hello Trouble, You’re looking mighty good today.” Met eenzelfde houding als B.B. King in zijn beste jaren, zelfverzekerd, ondeugend, stijlvol en charmant, ingetogen spelend tot uitbundig solerend, De tent en band genieten samen tijdens zijn liedje over een vrouw, ze heet ‘Honey, like a Queen Bee’ maar ‘Honey, Ain”t So Sweet’. Het blijkt gedurende dit festival een uniek moment te zijn waarop deze keer de vrouw in plaats van de man nu eens de boosdoener is. Harrell plaatst vervolgens zijn meisje op een voetstuk in het soulvolle ‘You’re A Queen’ waarin hij ondanks zijn jonge leeftijd heel goed weet hoe hij haar dient te behandelen.
Toch zal North Sea Jazz 2024 dit weekend de boeken ingaan als het festival waarin heel veel vrouwen vanaf het podium op openhartige wijze bijzonder vervelende ervaringen met mannen tot in detail openbaar maken. Harrell is zich er allemaal nauwelijks van bewust en start een onschuldige battle tussen de aanwezige mannen en vrouwen. “Rotterdam, do you feel like singing??”, klinkt het enthousiast waarbij eerst de dames, daarna de mannen “From the bottom to the hip”, vocale bijstand verlenen waarna Harrell vervolgens de dames de eer gunt maar waar uiteindelijk de volledige tent als winnaar uit komt lopen. Maatschappelijk engagement is aan D.K. niet besteed maar wedden dat we hem hier tussen al het ‘vrouwelijke geweld’ nog eens terug zien?
Bovengenoemde maatschappelijke betrokkenheid in woord en muziek zal op een later tijdstip centraal staan in diezelfde Congo al wordt het geen vermakelijk uurtje. Zoals iedere editie van North Sea Jazz is er namelijk een artiest gekozen om gedurende het gehele festival een eigen programma samen te stellen. De keuze van dit jaar om MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO die eer als Artist In Residence te gunnen is daarom zonder meer gerechtvaardigd. De Amerikaanse zangeres, multi-instrumentalist en componist lijkt werkelijk in ieder muzikaal genre uit de voeten te kunnen. Daarnaast is de veelzijdige muzikante een activiste die taboes doorbreekt, bekend is haar uitspraak: “I’d fuck your brother, but I’d marry your sister”, en zich sterk maakt voor alles wat mensenrechten betreft. Vanavond is haar eerste presentatie hier te zien. Voor de gelegenheid heeft zij een indrukwekkend stel muzikanten om zich heen verzameld waarin wij Tom Skinner achter de drumkit spotten. De nog betrekkelijk jonge percussionist heeft zich de afgelopen jaren laten zien als een van de meest baanbrekende en muzikaal gezien ook grensoverschrijdende artiesten in de jazz en aanverwante stijlen. De mede-oprichter van Sons of Kemet en collega in het experimentele The Smile van Radiohead-voorman Thom Yorke is daarmee iemand die zich probleemloos weet te schikken in een rol binnen dit team. Het maakt het er voor de willekeurige festivalganger niet gemakkelijker op wanneer de muzikanten samen op zoek gaan in het experiment en zich daarbij volledig lijken af te zonderen voor het publiek. Het lijkt soms zelfs daadwerkelijk jazz-muziek en het lijkt verrekte lastig om daar met volle aandacht van te kunnen genieten. Het rumoer in de tent komt soms zelfs boven de muziek uit. Wanneer NDEGEOCELLO haar bas erbij pakt en het volume opschroeft is het probleem snel opgelost. Bij het gevoelige ‘Feel Like Makin’ Love’ dat in de jaren zeventig een hit was van Roberta Flack is er zowaar enige herkenning en wordt er daadwerkelijk ook geluisterd. Het is een van de vele mooie composities van Eugene McDaniels die vanavond centraal staat in dit programma. Ook hij was een geëngageerd figuur die zich sterk maakte voor mensenrechten en helaas zijn veel onderwerpen van toen nog steeds actueel. Naast dichter en activist James Baldwin wordt ook Larry Neal, een spil in de zwarte kunstbeweging, onder de aandacht gebracht maar het lijkt veel bezoekers te zijn ontgaan omdat de Congo ook een prettige plek is om je Soul Food, Pizza-punt of Mexicaanse hapje te nuttigen. Het gaat voor even de goede kant op tijdens ‘Uhuru Sasa’ uit de beginjaren zeventig dat gevoelig wordt gezongen door Andy Bey maar het is hier vanavond helaas niet de juiste locatie voor de artiest die al zo vaak en op vrijwel ieder podium van dit festival ooit eens heeft gespeeld. Gelukkig krijgt ze later dit weekend de mogelijkheid om nog iets van haar vele kanten te laten zien op het festival.
MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO
Eugene McDaniels was also an important source of inspiration for Aretha Franklin, but it was only a few of his compositions that she would eventually use. The music of The Queen of Soul is central to today’s show of SHIRMA ROUSE & THE ORCHESTRA OF THE NETHERLANDS ROYAL AIR FORCE. The large stage of The Nile is barely big enough to accommodate the 48-person company. The singer has acted at this festival before, but mainly in the service of other beautiful artists. Today it is her show in which she is the center of attention, but in which it becomes clear once again what a wonderful oeuvre Franklin created during her life. Rouse has been familiar with her heroine’s many songs since her childhood. She has, as it were, specialized in the soul of Aretha and effortlessly fills the most beautiful theaters with it every evening. A tribute to The Queen of Soul has proven to be an enormous challenge, but when ‘You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman’ is performed so powerfully with that great orchestra, it becomes clear that no one in the Netherlands could have done this better.
SHIRMA ROUSE
Long before the start there is already a large group of fans leaning against the front fence. Despite the large musical offering, they clearly come here today for one artist and that is RAYE, the singer who won no fewer than six BRIT awards in one evening last year, suddenly joining an illustrious list of names such as David Bowie, Oasis and Michael Jackson. The story is one of a lady who, with a strong will of her own, showed the big record bosses a big middle finger by making the first full-fledged album that she had dreamed of for so long, entirely on her own. With ‘My 21st Century Blues’ she has transformed a very personal story into music in which dance, R&B, pop and jazz subtly merge. After an earlier performance at Lowlands and Down The Rabbit Hole last week, North Sea Jazz could not be left behind. De Nile has a big closing event today with the British Rachel Keen, as she is actually called, that needs no introduction. The performance starts without announcement by the stylish musical accompanists dressed in white. A drum kit is set up on a platform with an extensive percussion set next to it. In the corner is the keyboard player who directs the whole thing and throws all kinds of sound effects into the room. On the right are the four wind instruments while the singer is flanked by a bassist and guitarist.
RAYE
The moment the first notes of ‘The Thrill Is Gone’ are fired into the venue, the first fainted fans are already being taken away. What exactly is ‘Thrill Is Gone’? It is therefore an overload of emotions that are released here. It is ‘Hard Out Here’, according to the singer who introduces herself as a ‘drama queen’ and wants to create an intimate bond with her audience within a few minutes in which the most personal matters are brought to the table. Anyone who is somewhat familiar with her story knows that this is not exactly childish, which unfortunately many will recognize themselves in. It will not be the first time that tears were shed during ‘Ice Cream Man’ when she talks about how “his ice-cold hands touched my body” and “the price that is now being paid for that”. It’s a lot when you meet someone for the first time. She commands the audience with seductive poses, aware of the large screens on either side of the stage. James Brown once sang ‘It’s A Man’s World’ at this same festival. Would she be aware of this? RAYE emphasizes the impressive lyrics with her impressive vocal range in her rendition of the classic. It is an intense event, but to be honest, some distance between artist and audience is sometimes quite nice.
Brittany Howard
Sammy Rae