Pitbull and Mariah Carey at Curacao North Sea Jazz 2019

It is with great pleasure that the organization of the Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival announces new names. Pitbull will open on the Sam Cooke stage on Friday 30 August and on Saturday Mariah Carey. Also confirmed to be performing on Friday are Maxwell, Michael McDonald and Kenny G. Aloe Blacc and David Sanborn are added to Saturday’s line-up. The festival opens on Thursday, 29 August with free concerts of Havana D’Primera and Aymée Nuviola. Tickets for this evening will be distributed in Sambil on Sunday 2 June.

From Mr. 305 to Mr. Worldwide, Armando Christian Perez, a.k.a. Pitbull, was born to Cuban parents and rose from the streets of Miami to exemplify the American Dream, achieving international success as an award-winning global superstar, business entrepreneur, education ambassador and motivational speaker. In 2004, Pitbull released his first album M.I.A.M.I., which featured Lil Jon on five of 16 tracks. To date, he has released 10 full-length albums, including Global Warming, Globalization and his most recent, Climate Change. His second Spanish-language album and ninth overall, Dale, received the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album. Pitbull has landed #1 hits in over 15 countries, sold over 80 million singles, has more than 84 million Facebook/Twitter/Instagram followers and over 13 billion views on YouTube. Focused on turning negatives into positives, Pitbull also serves as ambassador to the Sports Leadership Arts and Management (SLAM!) schools he has helped to establish in several U.S cities, including the Little Havana neighborhood where he grew up in Miami.

If there’s anyone not needing any introduction, it’s Mariah Carey. The singer rose to fame in 1990 with her smash hit single Vision Of Love and her eponymous debut album. Right away the world paid attention, not in the least because of Carey’s five-octave vocal range and signature use of the whistle register. She became the first artist to have their first five singles reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Carey has won five Grammy Awards, nineteen World Music Awards, ten American Music Awards, and fourteen Billboard Music Awards. She has sold over 200 million albums worldwide.

Singer-songwriter Maxwell was instrumental in bringing the neo-soul movement to prominence over the latter half of the 90s. After making a name for himself on the New York club scene, Maxwell signed a recording contract and debuted with the 1996 album Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite, with which he scored his first Grammy nomination – with many more to follow. After three albums and a seven-year hiatus, he released 2009’s BLACKsummers'night; the first installment of a trilogy of which the second part, blackSUMMERS'night, was released in 2016.

Michael McDonald grew up in Missouri, playing in local bands before he moved out to Los Angeles in the early 1970s. In 1974 he became a member of Steely Dan and after that joined the Doobie Brothers. As a singer, keyboardist, and composer he contributed to such classic hits as Takin’ It To The Streets, It Keeps You Runnin’, and What A Fool Believes. During the ‘80s and ‘90s, his solo career knew successes like Sweet Freedom and two legendary duets: On My Own with Patti LaBelle and Yah Mo B There with James Ingram. He has five Grammys to his name; his latest album Wide Open was released in 2017.

With global sales totaling more than 75 million records, saxophonist Kenny G is the biggest-selling instrumental artist of all time. Growing up as Kenny Gorelick in Seattle's Seward Park neighborhood, he came into contact with the saxophone when he heard a performance on The Ed Sullivan Show and started playing at age 10. His sixth studio album, 1992’s Breathless, went on to become the best-selling instrumental album ever; two years later, his album Miracles became the best-selling Christmas album ever. Gorelick continues to tour all over the world; his latest album, Brazilian Nights, was released in 2015.

American singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc launched his solo career in 2003, eventually finding a large audience with 2010’s hit single I Need A Dollar. In 2013, the single Wake Me Up, which Blacc co-wrote and sang with Swedish DJ Avicii, was a number one hit in many countries. His third album, Lift Your Spirit, also dates from the same year, as well as the EP Wake Me Up. Earlier this year he released his latest single I’m Gonna Sing; he is also featured on SOS, the new single of the late Avicii. 

David Sanborn has been blurring the boundaries between genres since the eighties and is seen as one of the most influential saxophonists globally. His never-ceasing energy has paid dividends: Sanborn has scored eight golden records, one platinum record and six Grammys. Playing the sax since childhood, Sanborn released his first solo album in 1975; Taking Off is nowadays regarded as something of a jazz/funk classic.