Veterans such as soul singer Mavis Staples and blues guitarist Buddy Guy performed well on the opening night of North Sea Jazz 2023. The Diaspora Suite was impressive, performed by Dutch and international singers, rappers and musicians.
Peter van Brummelen7 July 2023, 21:38
The overarching theme of North Sea Jazz 23 is Sounds of Diversity. That can seem a bit crazy at a festival where color has been a matter of course from the very beginning, on stage and certainly also in the audience.
But 2023 is the year in which it is commemorated that 150 years ago slavery in the Dutch colonies came to an end. And that also deserves attention at North Sea Jazz, of course. The festival’s programming has long been much broader than just jazz, but almost all music that can be heard there can be directly or indirectly traced back to Africa.
International stars
So it’s great that the 46th edition of the festival opens on Friday afternoon with The Diaspora Suite. Dutch artists such as Shirma Rouse and Typhoon share the stage with international stars such as Laura Mvula and Corinne Bailey Rae. In between, Glenn Helberg and Karin Amatmoekrim, among others, will read texts. And the mighty Metropole Orkest is there.
It is the perfect opening of North Sea Jazz. The suite is serious and exuberant at the same time, contemplative and festive. You hear Africa, you hear Suriname, you hear the Netherlands. Well, you hear the whole world. Really great: the two British saxophonists Camilla George and Cassie Kinoshi, who solo over heavy afrobeat.
At North Sea Jazz, in the halls with seats, you usually have a complete migration of the public going and coming after every piece played. At The Diaspora Suite, hardly anyone leaves the room prematurely. That says something.
Staples gives himself completely
Strange feeling when the impressive concert has ended: outside the hall, North Sea Jazz 23 has barely started. What now? A logical follow-up is the appearance of Mavis Staples, the soul singer who became known as a member of the family group The Staple Singers, in the sixties more or less the house band of the American Civil Rights Movement.
83 is Mavis Staples now. Her supervisors force her to sit on a stool at North Sea every now and then, but she gives herself completely. Her voice sounds much rawer and hoarse than before, but that’s not a problem. Great singer, wonderful person. She mainly sings her own material, but also covers of songs by The Band and Talking Heads, which she turns into pure gospel songs.
Now-or-never moment
Long ago, when North Sea was a lot stricter than it is today, blues was the only other genre that was tolerated on the stages besides jazz. Nowadays blues there is a rarity. Logical, because all blues greats have passed away and there are hardly any new additions. Fortunately, Buddy Guy (86) is still there and his performance in the Maas (in daily life the Ahoy) attracts a large audience.
It really is one of those now-or-never-more moments, as the show is part of his Damn Right Farewell Tour. It is named after his signature song Damn Right, I’ve Got The Blues, with which he immediately opens the performance in Rotterdam. Wonderful, those biting, howling and abrasive tones on his Stratocaster. This is how you play blues guitar.
Buddy Guy is one of those American founding fathers from whom British guitarists like Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Jimmy Page learned a lot, if not everything. It’s great that he still enraptures such a large audience at North Sea in his old age. And his outfit (dung overalls, Hawaiian blouse and white cap) will not be surpassed this whole weekend.
American blues guitarist Buddy Guy enraptures the North Sea audience.Image paulbergen/ANP
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2023-07-07 19:38:36
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