The Isley Brothers, John Legend, Nile Rodgers and Sienna Spiro confirmed for North Sea Jazz

The NN North Sea Jazz Festival is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Performers on 10, 11 and 12 July include The Isley Brothers, John Legend, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Marcus Miller, Pat Metheny, Jalen Ngonda, Charlie Puth and Frenna & The Gang. The Roots will also be present with special guests Bilal and Jon Batiste. Ticket sales for single day tickets start Saturday 31 January at 10am.

On 16 July, it will be exactly 50 years since the doors of North Sea Jazz first opened, then in The Hague. The festival started with six venues, three hundred musicians and some nine thousand visitors. In that first year, legends like Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz entered the stage. Since then, North Sea Jazz has become a leading international event and an icon of jazz music. With 17 stages, around 1,300 artists and 90,000 visitors from all over the world every year, the festival offers a wide range of jazz and related genres.

NN North Sea Jazz celebrates its anniversary by experiencing the present, looking forward, but also dwelling on the past. Names of today include esperanza spalding, Snarky Puppy with the Metropole Orkest, Diana Krall, Joshua Redman, Amaro Freitas, James Brandon Lewis Quartet and Asaf Avidan. Artists like Alex Isley, Carrtoons, Sienna Spiro, Patricia Brennan, SML and Mei Semones will show what the music of tomorrow sounds like. The festival has made room for great innovators from the start. In Rotterdam, they will include Pat Metheny, Steve Coleman, Cassandra Wilson, Nils Petter Molvær Khmer and Sun Ra Arkestra, which already performed at that first North Sea Jazz, fifty years ago.

Over three days, NN North Sea Jazz offers over 150 performances. In addition, there are special projects, workshops, interviews, signing sessions with artists, showcases of unknown talent, various art exhibitions, a versatile catering offer, shops and much more. Last November, the popularity of this biggest indoor music event worldwide was once again demonstrated: all three-day tickets sold out within hours.

Line-up

Friday, July 10:

Asaf Avidan; Bilal; Diana Krall; esperanza spalding; Grace Bowers; Jalen Ngonda; James Brandon Lewis Quartet; Jon Batiste; Joshua Redman Quartet; Patricia Brennan Septet; Questlove & Friends; Sienna Spiro; Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest conducted by Jules Buckley; Steve Coleman & Five Elements; The Isley Brothers; The Roots with special guests Bilal and Jon Batiste; Vincen Garcia

Saturday, July 11:

Alain Pérez y la Orquesta; Adekunle Gold; Alex Isley; Amaro Freitas Trio; Anouar Brahem 'After the Last Sky' with Django Bates, Anja Lechner and Mats Eilertsen; Bill Frisell Trio & Greg Tardy; Cassandra Wilson; Charlie Puth; Estrella Morente; Incognito; Joy Crookes; Kiefer; Marcus Miller presents We Want Miles! with Mike Stern, Bill Evans, Mino Cinelu, Russell Gunn, Brett Williams, and Anwar Marshall; NILS PETTER MOLVÆR - KHMER; Riley Mulherkar Quartet; Selah Sue and The Gallands; Sun Ra Arkestra

Sunday, July 12:

Adrian Younge 'Something About April III'; Annie & The Caldwells; Carrtoons; Charles Lloyd Quartet; Fred Hersch Trio; Frenna & The Gang; Hiromi's Sonicwonder ; John Legend; Kris Davis Trio; KWN; Mari Froes; May Semones; Nate Smith; Nile Rodgers & CHIC; Pat Metheny Side-Eye III+; RYMDEN - Bugge Wesseltoft, Dan Berglund, Magnus Öström; SML

More names to be announced at a later date