Extra stage Curaçao North Sea Jazz & new names!

We have already announced a whole bunch of names for Curaçao North Sea Jazz and today we are going to announce even more. None other than jazz icon Sonny Rollins will come to Curaçao. He is the greatest tenor saxophonist of the Bop era and still performs worldwide. From Africa, Oumou Sangaré has been confirmed. The Grammy-Award winning singer from Mali brings socially critical music. She plays worldwide, selling hundreds of thousands of albums and can be seen on the CNSJ stage end of August.

The Curaçao singer Kris Berry discovered music at a young age, Patsy Cline and Nina Simone were her great examples. With her sparkling mix of Caribbean sounds, smooth country and swinging rhythm & blues, she is a rising star. Mud Morganfield will also come to the festival.  It is not for nothing that Larry ‘Mud’ Morgenfield is called ‘Muddy Waters Jr.’: he is the eldest son of the legendary Father of Chicago Blues. He even resembles him, both in appearance and in voice.

Singer-songwriter Sabrina Starke was born in Suriname and grew up in Rotterdam. Her album Yellow Brick Road came out in 2008 and was picked up by Blue Note/EMI. Her album went platinum after leading the charts for 52 consecutive weeks. On top of that, Sabrina received an Edison Pop Award. With her voice, jazz- and soul singer Sherry Dyanne recalls memories to singers such as Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington.

Kizzy McHugh is a Dutch singer, actress and television presenter. However, she grew up in Curaçao. Her breakthrough came in 1996 when she won the national Song Festival and represented Curaçao in the Caribbean Song Festival, where she placed third.

José James has been confirmed for Brakkeput Mei Mei. The versatiel singer broke through with his album The Dreamer in 2008. The reviews were jubilant and after a number of club performances he was already booked for North Sea Jazz Rotterdam. In 2010, the CD For All We Know was just as sensational. Downbeat magazine called him ‘Rising Star Best Male Vocalist’ in 2011. 

Soon we will announce the final acts for the Friday and Saturday and two more other big acts. We are also on the verge of confirming a big name from the Gospel world for Brionplein on Sunday. 

In addition to all these confirmed artists, there is also news about the set-up of the festival. This year there will be four stages at Curaçao North Sea Jazz. In addition to the familiar Sam Cooke, Sir Duke and Celia stages, there will be a smaller stage called Etta James. The American Rhythm & Blue singer Etta James, who passed away last year, is considered to be one of the greatest singers of her generation. She has been an inspiration for many other R&B singers but also, for example, for artists like Janis Joplin and Adele. The extra stage will be built on the location of the Sir Duke stage during the first two editions.

Last year, the festival area was expanded by adding the beach and placing the Sir Duke stage there. This expansion proved to be a huge success, but it also became clear that enough space remained and which will now be filled with the smaller Etta James stage.

Tickets for the festival may already be reserved via 522-JAZZ. The official ticket sales will start on Monday April 8th at the official sales locations.

CURAÇAO NORTH SEA JAZZ FESTIVAL
Met oa. Sonny Rollins, Oumou Sangaré, Erykah Badu, Gladys Knight, Luis Miguel, The Roots, Raphael Saadiq, Los Lobos, Christian McBride Big Band, Esperanza Spalding Radio Music Society, Mud Morganfield, Edmar Casteneda,  New Cool Collective, Sabrina Stark, Sherry Dyanne, Kizzy,  Kris Berry, and the Hot 8 Brass Band.

Monday August 26th - El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico
Thursday August 29th José James – Brakkeput Mei Mei
Friday August 30th and Saturday August 31st - World Trade Center Piscadera Bay

The Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival is made possible by Fundashon Bon Intenshon.