Big, bigger, North Sea Jazz!
The North Sea Jazz Festival is the world’s biggest indoor jazz festival with fifteen stages, 180 acts and 1500 musicians. The festival offers many musical genres ranging from traditional New Orleans jazz, swing, bop, free jazz, fusion, avant garde jazz and electronic jazz to blues, gospel, funk, soul, hiphop, R&B, world beat and latin. It’s impossible to see all performances: North Sea Jazz shows four artists on each stage every single evening!

Jazz legends in Rotterdam...
Many great jazz legends have performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival over the years: Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Nat Adderley, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Tony Bennett, Santana, Alicia Keys, Youssou N'Dour, Erykah Badu, The Brecker Brothers, Ibrahim Ferrer, Ella Fitzgerald, Lionel Hampton, Al Jarreau, B.B. King, Wynton Marsalis, Bugge Wesseltoft, John Zorn and Joe Zawinul, to name a few!

And also brand new jazz talent
Besides these jazz legends, the North Sea Jazz Festival gives newcomers a chance to make it to the stage. Every year, The North Sea Jazz Festival presents the Paul Acket Award to an artist who deserves to be recognized for his/her exceptional musicianship. Some of the talents that were introduced at the North Sea Jazz Festival to a European audience for the first time include Shirley Horn, Tania Maria, Roy Hargrove and Rachelle Ferrell. That is what makes the North Sea Jazz Festival so unique: a presentation of the past, present and future of jazz music in three days, all under one roof!

Best festival in Europe: North Sea Jazz Rotterdam
The North Sea Jazz Festival was declared 'Best Festival in Europe' by the leading jazz magazine JazzTimes several times and was listed in Time Magazine's top 10 Events of the world! Don’t miss this event and visit Rotterdam and enjoy the sound the best jazz artists from all over the world.

Big names at the North Sea Jazz Festval in 2012
It has been confirmed that the following artists will perform at the North Sea Jazz festival´s 37th edition in 2012:

Friday 6 July: Van Morrison, Michael Kiwanuka, Melody Gardot*, Spectrum Road (Jack Bruce, John Medeski, Cindy Blackman en Vernon Reid), Robert Glasper Experiment, Gregory Porter, Joe Lovano-Dave Douglas Quintet, Jill Scott, Ron Carter "the Golden Striker Trio", Esma & Amazing Roma from Macedonia

Nightconcert 6 / 7 July, start 00.30 hrs: Lenny Kravitz*

Saturday 7 July: David Murray Blues Big Band featuring Macy Gray, Ahmad Jamal, Pat Metheny Unity Band*, PRISM (Dave Holland, Kevin Eubanks, Craig Taborn, Eric Harland), Hugh Laurie, Fourplay, Rodrigo y Gabriela & C.U.B.A., George Benson, Rufus Wainwright and Band, Rudder

Sunday 8 July: Tony Bennett*, D'Angelo, Amos Lee, Janelle Monáe, Hiromi Trio met Anthony Jackson en Simon Phillips, The Kyteman Orchestra, Wayne Shorter Quartet, McCoy Tyner Trio with Ravi Coltrane, Brad Mehldau Trio, Monty Alexander, Joe Bonamassa (an acoustic evening with)*, Aloe Blacc & The Grand Scheme, Lianne La Havas

North Sea Round Town
During the three weeks prior to the big NSJ weekend, Rotterdam welcomes Jazz music with every night different performances on big stages, such as in the Park at he Euromast, Hotel New York, LantarenVenster, in the Old Harbour and aboard the SS Rotterdam. Most shows are free.