Festival organisers have announced 52 new names for their upcoming anniversary edition, including BURNA BOY, FLEA AND THE HONORA BAND, THUNDERCAT and DJ PEE .WEE (a.k.a. Anderson .Paak). PAT METHENY, previously announced for Sunday with Side-Eye III+, will now also perform on Saturday: Bright Size Life Reimagined with the TYN WYBENGA BRAINTEASER ORCHESTRA. This year’s Artist in Residence is CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT.
Composer, singer and visual artist CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT has been praised by The New York Times alongside legends such as Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. In 2010, she won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and gained international recognition with WomanChild in 2013. She has won three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album. McLorin Salvant has released eight albums to date, most recently Oh Snap, which came out in 2025.
As Artist in Residence, she will perform four times at the festival. On Friday, she presents Oh Snap, and on Saturday Book of Ayres. On Sunday, she appears twice: with the Metropole Orchestra conducted by Jules Buckley, and with Sullivan Fortner.
To mark 50 years of North Sea Jazz, PAT METHENY will revisit his debut album Bright Size Life, originally released on ECM Records in 1976. At his request, composer and conductor Tyn Wybenga adapted the album for a large ensemble. He will perform this version at North Sea Jazz with Metheny and his Brainteaser Orchestra. It is the first time since the 1970s that Metheny has returned to this album in this way.
Also added to Friday’s line-up: Ão; Brandon Woody’s Upendo; Cécile McLorin Salvant ‘Oh Snap’; Gallowstreet; Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter, Larry Grenadier & Eric Harland; Kenny Barron ‘Songbook’ featuring Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Johnathan Blake & Ekep Nkwelle; Kokoroko; LA LOM; Paradox Jazz Orchestra & Randal Corsen; Pierre Courbois 3GEN3; Raúl Monsalve y Los Forajidos; Robert Glasper; Suzan Veneman Sextet; The RH Factor; Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith; Y.O.P.E. x Avvnt MM; Y-OTIS; Yuri Honing’s Peace Orchestra
More names for Saturday: Burna Boy; ‘Bright Size Life Reimagined’ – Pat Metheny & Tyn Wybenga Brainteaser Orchestra; Camila Meza; Cécile McLorin Salvant ‘Book of Ayres’; Cheikh Lô; Christian McBride – Kenny Barron – Julian Lage; Flea and The Honora Band; Hajaj; Joe Armon-Jones; Mete Erker Trio +1; New Jazz Underground; Robert Glasper Acoustic Piano Trio; Thundercat; Tomoki Sanders; Xavi Torres Trio with Miguel Zenón
Sunday: Adja; Alden Hellmuth; Ally Venable; Cécile McLorin Salvant & Metropole Orkest, conducted by Jules Buckley; Cécile McLorin Salvant & Sullivan Fortner; Dee Dee Bridgewater ‘We Exist’; DJ Pee .Wee (a.k.a. Anderson .Paak); Emma Rawicz INKYRA; Jamie Peet Reflex feat. Joel Ross, Ben van Gelder & Pat Cleaver; Jarrod Lawson; Julia Hülsmann Quartet with Hildegunn Øiseth; Maite Hontelé y LA NOVIA; Maria Schneider & Clasijazz Big Band featuring Antonio Lizana; Nationaal Jeugd Jazz Orkest o.l.v. Reinier Baas; PARRA.DICE; Reinier Baas & Ben van Gelder Quartet featuring Jeff Ballard; SHABAKA; Terence Blanchard & Ravi Coltrane MILES / COLTRANE – Legacy; Theon Cross
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