Everyone's A Winner At North Sea Jazz

What a dilemma it was a few months ago: going to see Stevie Wonder and miss the Worldcup final with maybe the Dutch team. Or pick another day and miss Stevie. In the end we decided to take a gamble and go for Stevie. And of course the Dutch team made it to the finals! But the North Sea Jazz organization wasn't ignoring the soccer fans and made sure everyone could see the final game on big screens. And surely we would win and celebrate with Stevie Wonder! What a great party that would be!

North Sea Jazz Festival Ahoy Rotterdam, Sunday July 11 2010
First we had to make it to Rotterdam's Ahoy in the heat. That turned out to be easier than last year. So right on time we met our friends and got ready for the first gig.

Stanley Clarke (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
The Hudson hall was already full by the time we got there. So we waited in line in the smothery heat with many others. My friends gave up in the end but I decided to give it a few more minutes. Finally I was able to get in to find out it was just as warm in the hall itself. But I really wanted to see Stanley Clarke. One of the great bass players around he played his contra bass most of the time I was there sitting on a bar stool. He left plenty of room for the other musicians to show their stuff. Especially piano player Hiromi was playing with lots of energy and creativity. Of course the master himself proved why he's one of the greatest. But after half an hour of continuous sweating my shirt was soaked and I had to leave to get some fresh air.



Elvis Costello and The Sugarcanes (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
I found my friends again with Elvis Costello. He was playing bluegrass songs with his acoustic band The Sugarcanes. Although he's a great singer and musician the performance never really came alive. They were having fun themselves but it just wasn't a fortunate combination. Hopefully next time he will bring his usual stuff again.

Richard Bona (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
Time to get moving! Richard Bona is a great bass player from Cameroon and just the guy you need for a lively performance. Dressed in an orange shirt with Dutch flag he was ready for the finals and ready to play a hell of a gig. He played swinging songs with typical African vocals. And some killer grooves on his six string bass guitar. Playing with a big smile most of the time he was filling the hall with good vibes.



Michael Moore Fragile Quartet (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
Moore shows he's is a great clarinet player. He brought a dynamic band and especially drummer Michael Vatcher proves to be a creative musician using all kinds of percussion instruments that I've never seen before even glasses filled with water (or vodka it was hard to tell from where I was sitting). It looked like he brought a box from his attic with him. They play a variety of mostly calm songs but stay safely within their boundaries. Very enjoyable though.

Unfortunately McCoy Tyner with Joe Lovano are playing the Hudson as well and of course it's full again. That's a big letdown but we don't want to wait in the heat again. So we decide to wander around a bit, grab something to eat and get ready for the big World cup final. A nerve wrecking final that obviously doesn't meet our expectations. It's a bitter loss especially since the Dutch players seemed busier practicing their Kung-Fu moves than playing soccer. We're all a bit down but fortunately there's still one gig left: Stevie Wonder!

Stevie Wonder (Ronald Says 9 out of 10)
The stage is still dark when we hear the sound of guitar. It turns out it's Stevie himself with a portable keyboard who is slowly walking onto the stage. He treats us to a set filled with lots of his hits of course. He's playing piano and keyboard in his familiar poses and of course some harmonica too. You can tell he's aging by the way his voice sounds in the high notes but that's really a minor point. He's also playing some jazzy tunes. 'Take Five' is one of those but somehow this doesn't sound too good as he admits himself at the end. Today he can get away with it and it's all forgiven when he's playing great versions of 'Higher Ground', 'Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing' and of course 'Superstitious'. The persistent rumour that Prince will show up turns out not to be true but Stevie Wonder really doesn't need him. He calls Quincy Jones onto the stage for a hug but nothing more. I was amazed to see how firmly he's in control of the band and everything that's happening around him. What a true legend!



So in the end I'm sure everyone has gone home with a happy feeling. The lost final already is long forgotten...
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Full Jazz House

A few years ago the North Sea Jazz festival moved from The Hague to Rotterdam. Some said that it never got the same but I liked it. Better ways to move from one gig to the other and you were able to do some band hopping. But things changed...

North Sea Jazz at Ahoy Rotterdam, 12 July 2009

Another festival another traffic jam. That seems to be the trend this year: stuck in traffic for Pinkpop, Rock Werchter and now North Sea Jazz. But after some driving around we somehow managed to park our car and it was time to meet our friends and to check out the performances.

We wanted to start it off with the Chucho Valdés Big Band but...the hall for this performance was full. So we improvised and went to see the John Taylor Trio instead.

John Taylor Trio (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
A piano trio can be really exciting but this wasn't. Everything was on the safe side and the musicians didn't really challenge each other. Of course John Taylor is very good piano player but it could have used some more fireworks.

So no suprises here and we decided to try to see Kyteman but...the tent was full. So it was time for a bite to eat and a drink or two. I had to choose now: Roy Haynes or Antonio Sanchez with the Scott Colley Quartet. I decided to see Roy Haynes and quickly we made our way there so we wouldn't be too late again!

Roy Haynes Trio (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
What was missing with the John Taylor trio earlier was all here. Of course Haynes had David Kikoski on piano and John Patitucci on bass to help him. Nice compositions, very good musicians of course and now and then some exciting interaction. Haynes showed why he's considered a living legend and challenged the others to play their best.



Bennink, Borstlap and Glerum (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
Michiel Borstlap playing Monk should be good. With Han Bennink on drums this is bound to have some good moments. Bennink crazy as always used the whole stage, including his shoes to play his rythms. And Borstlap was playing the Monk tunes in his own relaxed style. You can't go wrong with Monk.

Raphael Saadiq (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
I liked his latest album "The Way I See It" but this gig didn't do it for me. The sound was just awful and the music didn't sound as good as on the album. Maybe just not my cup of tea.

Jasper Blom Quartet (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
I went to see this quartet because Martijn Vink is playing the drums in it and I wanted to check him out. I didn't know the others but was pleasantly surprised. They played some complex songs together, some bop inspired and some more easy and mellow songs. Now and then Blom would come to the mic to introduce a song or make a joke or two making it a very vibrant and entertaining permormance. I'm definitely gonna check out their album "Statue of Liberty".

Steve Winwood (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
Of course when I get the change to see artists like Steve Winwood I make sure I grab it. He was playing several of his hit songs including "Higher Love" and some Clapton songs that were really lacking Slowhand himself. Winwood has some very good musicians playing with him but I still felt like something was missing. Could've been the stage in the very large Nile hall with bad sound again. Or maybe my expectations were too high.

I have mixed feelings about this North Sea Jazz edition. It was just too crowded at times which kind of takes away some of the fun to discover new music or to make it to a performance on time you were really hoping to see. Then again I also saw some great music played by great musicians and had a good time with my friends. So I still went home happy. Maybe next year we're gonna give The Hague Jazz a try?



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