Special projects

Like Anoushka Shankar, who, following in the footsteps of her father Ravi, picked up the sitar and, now with thirty years’ experience, has grown into a legend in her own right. Yet she’s only making her festival debut this year, as is El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico – even though these ‘ambassadors’ of Puerto Rican salsa have been around since the sixties. Seu Jorge, known for his rousing Brazilian rhythms, has only been a guest at North Sea Jazz once before – twenty years ago. And speaking of rhythms: the Queen of Percussion, Sheila E, is not only performing with her band the E-Train but also with her father Pete Escovedo, who instilled in her a love for (jazz)percussion.

A real first is The Symphonic Music Of Wayne Shorter performed by the Rotterdam Philharmonisch Orkest, conducted by Clark Rundell. The program features pieces Shorter wrote for orchestra, some of which have only rarely been heard. Shorter’s accompanists, pianist Danilo Perez and bassist John Patitucci, are also performing. Elsewhere at the festival, they also pay tribute in a trio formation to their master Shorter, who blurred the lines between bop and free jazz and thus had a tremendous influence on contemporary jazz.

The swing tradition lives on in the Lionel Hampton Orchestra led by Jason Marsalis, with some of Hampton’s original band members even still in it. Of course, as always, the Metropole Orkest is present with a special performance. This year, the world-renowned orchestra is working with Artist in Residence Jacob Collier, and also with guitar virtuoso Joe Bonamassa, which is sure to produce fireworks.