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For one weekend in July every year, a large warehouse in the city of Rotterdam hosts the biggest names in jazz. Under the banner of The North Sea Jazz FestivalThe labyrinthine, windowless space has played host to the likes of Miles Davis, free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman, singer Etta James, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and even Prince.
“We’ve had the biggest players in the jazz scene for the past five decades,” says executive director Sander Grande. “It’s a place where all musicians want to settle and where audiences come to see art that’s true and beautiful.”
Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the indoor festival has seen its fair share of hang-nights and unexpected performances. “When it started, there were no other jazz festivals in the Netherlands,” says festival director Irene Peters. “Now we’ve grown to over 1,000 artists playing to 90,000.”
Founded in 1976 by jazz enthusiast and publicist Paul Acket, the festival first took place at a concert hall in The Hague, with acts mainly from the European and American jazz world from 4pm to 4am. Highlights included three-hour performances from Ray Charles and Count Basie and Dutch singer Misha Mengelberg.
Jazz bands competed in his ranks. Grande, who first joined the festival as a student in 1993, remembers the ten years of the life-long struggle that shaped jazz itself. “You had people from the Marsalis family who were raised in the New Orleans culture complaining that jazz had become so popular,” he says. “Then you had acid jazz with Gilles Peterson and Galliano, or rappers like Guru sampling jazz all on the same line in the North Sea. That’s the beauty of what we do: bringing together all the Black music that has been influenced by jazz and seeing what can be made new.”
One place at the festival where this new combination of music is given space to explore and explore is the nearby Bird club, which opens after the party hosts have finished each night. Over the years, the late trumpeter Roy Hargrove was known for coming early to play with Erykah Badu and D’Angelo, who performed the first international performances at the festival in the late 90s, while in 2011 Prince ruled the place from midnight for three consecutive nights from Seal to Santa Claus.
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“Having a jam session is so important to a jazz festival, and to what this music is all about, that it’s about getting things right,” says Grammy-winning pianist and North Sea star Robert Glasper. “At 1 o’clock, when your shows are over, you know the cool kids will be there at the Bird, cutting up and waiting for the legends to come through. It’s part of what makes North Sea the best music festival in the world.”
Glasper has played the festival nearly 15 times, both as a band leader and as part of artists including Hargrove. In 2026, they will be sticking to the North Sea ethos of impromptu with three shows in different settings, including one with jazz and hip-hop instruments Christian McBride on bass and drums Questlove, playing new.
He believes that the fun of the weekend is to take other activities such as climbing on your own. “I’ve had a lot of firsts at the festival, like going to see Herbie Hancock play with D’Angelo and his band, and having my head blown by (trumpeter) Nicholas Payton’s quintet,” he says. “Even in the lobby you meet your heroes at breakfast, which is great when you’re a young player.
Veteran bebop pianist Kenny Barron’s early experience playing at the festival in the late 1970s and early 80s was re-created fortuitously in the lobby. He said: “I remember seeing everyone from James Brown to (Cape Verdean singer) Cesária Évora walking by. “A year after the show, I was waiting to go to the airport and drummer Grady Tate and singer Marlena Shaw came up and asked if I wanted to play with them for the rest of their European tour since the pianist had just quit.
Preparing for his debut at the festival this year, American saxophonist Alden Hellmuth is looking forward to his surprise encounter. “I grew up studying the masters like Joe Henderson and Kenny Garrett playing on the North Sea stage and I don’t know if I was prepared enough to join that line,” he says. “It feels like a place where everyone is at the top of their game. I’m looking forward to running to catch (saxophonist) Charles Lloyd who’s playing at the same time as us – I have to see him, as he’s such a pioneer.”
Since jazz has never been the most profitable or attractive genre in the music industry, The festival has featured big name R&B, soul and Afrobeats performers alongside jazz luminaries such as Chick Corea and John Zorn. “It’s not something that pleases everyone, but about 80% of our attendees come back every year, which means we always need to draw the next generation,” says Sander. “This year we have Burna Boy but we also have (guitarist) Pat Metheny and (avant garde pianist) Kris Davis: it’s about excellence and always respecting Black music.”
While some festivals with “jazz” in their name have wholeheartedly embraced the pop influence – including Montreux and the New Orleans jazz & heritage festival, which featured headliners including Zara Larsson and Lorde this year – North Sea organizers are ultimately keen to keep their roots in jazz, where they started.
“We have to reflect the changing times, but I believe we are in the best time of jazz,” says Sander. “You have a jazz scene in the UK and people like Kendrick Lamar using Robert Glasper in his lyrics. Audiences will always be looking for this song and no matter what we do, it will be enjoyed for a long time.”
The The North Sea Jazz Festival in Ahoy Rotterdam, Netherlands, until 12 July.
