Erykah Badu, Gladys Knight and Edmar Castaneda on Curacao North Sea Jazz

Erykah Badu and Gladys Knight, the two grand ladies of soul will come to Curacao North Sea Jazz! Earlier we could confirm that Luis Miguel, The Roots, Raphael Saadiq, Los Lobos, Christian McBride Big Band, New Cool Collective and Esperanza Spalding Radio Music Society will be on the lineup for the fourth edition of the festival.

Gladys Knight, also known as the "Empress of Soul", earned worldwide fame with her group Gladys Knight & The Pips. Think of the hits I Heard It Through the Grapevine, If I Were Your Woman, Neither One of Us and Midnight Train to Georgia. Also solo Knight scored several hits such as the soundtrack of the eponymous James Bond film Licence to Kill. Several of her solo albums were at the top of the album charts. She has worked with various artists such as Babyface, Dionne Warwick and Patti Labelle.

Erykah Badu brings a whole different kind of soul. From her debut ‘Baduizm’ which was released in 1997, the American soul singer Erykah Badu had the music world in her grip. Her style - often been described as "neo soul" - is sometimes eclectic and always politically and socially charged. From a jazz perspective, the voice of Badu reminds of Billie Holiday. Badu has recorded duets with The Roots, Macy Gray, Angie Stone, Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, D'Angelo and Marie Daulne of Zap Mama.

Besides the soul ladies, Edmar Castaneda will play at the festival. The New York-based Colombian plays his harp in a very different way than traditional harp players. He mixes Latin jazz with traditional Colombian music. Ten years ago Castaneda moved to the U.S. and since then he has been a household name in the jazz world. He already played with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, guitarist John Scofield and saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera.

Not all artists need a stage to make it a party. On both days the Hot 8 brass band will play. The brass band from New Orleans mixes hip-hop, jazz and funk with the New Orleans brass sound.

Currently the organisation is speaking with the management of various artists to complete the line up of Curacao North Sea Jazz. Also, the organization is working on the concerts that are spread across the island which will take place in the week prior to CNSJ. Of this program we already confirmed salsa orchestra El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico on Monday, August 26 at Brionplein.