After a very successful first edition last September, the program already looks promising and impressive for the next Curacao North Sea Jazz. We can now proudly present Juan Luis Guerra and we already received confirmations from headliner Sting, Earth Wind & Fire and Chic but also R&B/ soul legend Dionne Warwick and Latin jazz and salsa singer Ruben Blades. Ticket sales start today. The program now looks like this:

Friday
Sting, Chic featuring Nile Rodgers, Earth Wind & Fire, Terence Blanchard and Poncho Sanchez, Danilo Perez Trio, Levi Silvanie

Saturday
Dionne Warwick, Juan Luis Guerra, Chucho Valdes Afro Cuban & Messengers, Ruben Blades, Roberto Fonseca, Ronchi Matthew

At least six other artists will be confirmed in the coming weeks including the headliner of Saturday. More news will be announced in the following weeks. For Curacao the festival actually begins on Monday, August 29th with a free concert on the Brion Plaza with amongst others  Los Van Van. On Thursday, concert pianist Eliane Elias performs at the Brakkeput Mei Mei.  There are also concerts at the Avila Beach Hotel and Mambo Beach.

We are very honoured that we can announce Sting for this second edition of the Curacao North Sea Jazz festival. Sting is not only known as the lead singer and bassist of The Police but also for years as solo artist with a strong repertoire such as Englishman in New York and Next to You. In his songs you hear influences of jazz, classical and world music.

Chucho Valdés is one of three Cubans who will come to the island for the second edition of the Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival. He is a pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer and founder of the famous group Irakere. Earlier this week he won his fourth Grammy. Poncho Sanchez was born in Laredo Texas. He is one of the most famous figures of the Latin jazz scene and has recorded 45 albums. In the past people tried to get him to the island, but all these attempts failed. However, this year he is on stage with us. Together with special guest trumpeter Terence Blanchard it promises to be a special and memorable concert. In 1999 he won a Grammy Award. Danilo Perez is also, like Ruben Blades who has been announced earlier as one of the impessive acts on the program, from Panama and a three time Grammy Award winner. He played with several major jazz heroes and has recently played with our own Pernell Saturnino.

The pianist Eliane Elias is one of the greatest pianists of Brazil. She recently launched an album with beautiful bossa nova, where her roots were very well reflected. Local talent Levi Silvanie will perform among the international artists on Friday and Saturday.

The week before the festival, there will be performances at various places on the island (Brakkeput May May, Avila Beach Hotel, Mambo Beach). On Monday, August 29 we start with a free concert by Los Van Van from Cuba at the Brionplein.

The first artists for the second edition of the Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival, which takes place on September 2nd and 3rd, are confirmed. Legend Dionne Warwick, salsa superstar Ruben Blades, the band Chic and Earth Wind & Fire will perform on the festival. A total of eighteen artists will be performing these two days. This year there are two local artists included in the program. Like last year, the festival takes place in and around the World Trade Center site.

In the week before the festival North Sea Jazz concerts are held on various locations on the island namely at Brionplein, Brakkeput Mei Mei and at Mambo Beach.

On March 1 we start the ticket sales. The ticket price is set at $ 185 per night, including taxes. Instalment sales (two or three installments) take place exclusively through 24 uur uit de Muur. From the Netherlands it is also possible to book packages. Travel Agent Does Travel & Cadushi Tours is the exclusive travel partner of the festival.

We are proud to announce the second edition of North Sea Jazz in Curacao! On Friday, 2th and Saturday 3th of September 2011 the stages arise again at the World Trade Center Piscadera Bay. Unfortunately we can not yet tell who will attend but we will contact top artists in jazz, soul, latin, hip hop and R & B.

We hope to have more news soon. Keep an eye on this website or subscribe to our newsletter.

The organization of the Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival is very excited about the first edition of the festival. The enthusiastic mood in both the public and the artists ensured an unprecedented positive and festive atmosphere. During the two festival days, there were around 18,000 visitors.

The Sierra Maestra opening act warmed up the audience with Caribbean sounds. George Benson and then India took over, both in their own way and the public was excited. After a spectacular performance by Luiz Enrique, Lionel Richie was the ultimate closing of the first festival day. From the first note, there was a special interaction between audience and singer. He played countless hits in the tropical heat and thousands of people sang and danced until half past one at night.
View the Daily Herald newspaper on Friday review

The second festival was opened by Sergio Mendes and Natalie Cole. John Legend captured the hearts of the audience and also Giovanca with her Curaçao roots was warmly welcomed. Simply Red ended the festival.
View the Daily Herald newspaper on Saturday review

The atmosphere throughout the festival was very good. Festival director Jan Willem Luyken: "The festival has become as we intended. A very good program with many top acts on three stages. We have paid a lot of attention to the decor and the facilities, but especially the enthusiasm of the audience made this event successful. We have great cooperation with our local partners, businesses and services so it all went smoothly."
An impression of versgeperst.com

Gregory Elias, founder of Bon Fundashon Intenshon: “I dream that Curacao will be a permanent host of events of this level. This weekend we put the first step in that direction. I therefore congratulate all those who contributed.”