Artists/bands covered:
- corto.alto
- Kurt Rosenwinkel ‘The Next Step’ quartet reunion
- Sasha Berliner
- Enemy
- Arooj Aftab with Ambrose Akinmusire and Joel Ross
- Corinne Bailey Rae
- Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw / McNeely/ Shai Maestro.
- Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society
- Terri Lyne Carrington’s New Standards with Tineke Postma
Live Nation’s NN North Sea Jazz Festival (NSJ) had noticeably fewer jazz ‘superstars’ on offer this year. Nevertheless, the continued embarrassment of riches, provided plenty of highlights to impress both casual NSJ ‘newbies’ and festival old hands alike.
FRIDAY
I chose the young Scottish band corto.alto to bring my festival to life on day one. The exciting and prolific Liam Shortall is in effect all things corto-alto, with his impressive in equal measure trombone, bass guitar and electronics wizardry. Live he is superbly supported by Mateusz Sobieski on sax, killer drummer Graham Costello and rising star pianist Fergus McCreadie. Catch these guys on tour this year if you can.
Friday’s other special performance saw Kurt Rosenwinkel with the reunion of his ‘The Next Step’ quartet (Turner, Street & Ballard), promoting the imminent release of their ‘Live At Smalls, 1996’ album. All four seemed naturally at home wrapping themselves within the complex, but tuneful melodies, whilst improvising so fluidly, as only the best in the world at their craft can do so effortlessly.
SATURDAY
Early Saturday mention goes to US vibraphonist Sasha Berliner, with a great band including emerging sax star Nicole McCabe and some fabulous drumming by Jongkuk (JK) Kim in particular.
Next up, the now Berlin-based UK pianist Kit Downes not only played an energetic improvisation-rich set with Enemy (with Petter Eldh and James Maddren), but also saw him presented with the prestigious 2024 Paul Acket Award (named in memory of the founder of NSJ).
Forgoing the magnificent Lizz Wright for the ninth time, in order to check out two contrasting but intriguing artists, the decision was entirely vindicated. Grammy voters, fellow artists and jazz writers alike, have been raving about the Pakistani, via New York phenomenon Arooj Aftab and she showed exactly why! The sparse acoustic trio accompaniment is the perfect complement to her stunning voice, particularly when she sings in Urdu. With guest appearances by Ambrose Akinmusire and Joel Ross to top it off, the audience was both spellbound and exhilarated in equal measure.
Hard to follow that, but Leeds based singer/songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae presented ‘Black Rainbows’ with genuine passion and musical expression, inspired by her experience of Chicago’s Stony Island Arts Bank and the stories held within its immense archives of art and literature, which help to illustrate (and also celebrate) the history of the African American experience. Her articulate introductions to each piece perfectly enhanced the performance, whilst she still retained fun elements in her delivery – no mean feat!
SUNDAY
Sunday began with two different but equally enjoyable big band performances, the first by Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw conducted by Jim McNeely, with the star addition of the excellent pianist Shai Maestro. The second was Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, full of some of the biggest names on the New York jazz scene.
These two quickly faded into distant memory however, once the Terri Lyne Carrington’s New Standards gig got going! Terri Lyne is immensely important in the world, not only as a super jazz drummer, but for the whole artistic culture of the US and indeed beyond. Her advocacy of young musicians, together with the highly appropriate ethos behind the New Standards approach to recognising the rich talent of female composers, makes her an essential listen.
This show highlighted such diversity, with not only the always fantastic Aaron Parks on keys, but a fabulous band of musicians, with special mention going to Milena Casado on trumpet/flugelhorn (remember that name folks!) and dancer extraordinaire Christiana Hunte, who had also graced the stage as part of Esperanza Spalding’s wonderful festival-closing show last year! A fleeting appearance for one number by longtime collaborator, Dutch saxophonist Tineke Postma was icing on the cake.
John Ferguson (Instagram @johnferg01) co-promotes live music at SoundCellar in Poole
