North Sea Jazz 2012

North Sea Jazz 2012

Dear fans of Elena's blog, it is a pleasure for me to contribute a little of my own writing, the blog is named after me after all :)

On Sunday July 9th, Elena and I went to Rotterdam to celebrate the North Sea Jazz (NSJ) festival with our friend Joost Zwijnenburg. He lives in Rotterdam with his beautiful wife Marina and daughters Nora and Suze.  I have been enjoying NSJ with Joost since 1999, and although I wasn't always in the Netherlands over the years, I think I have only missed 2 editions. Anyway, faithful readers of this blog know already that Elena and I frequented some jazz festivals, including NSJ 2011 and Jazz Maastricht. NSJ is a great tradition we'd like to continue for a long time! As always, Joost and Marina are amazing hosts, and we can sleep at their place.

We took the metro to Ahoy, quite convenient due to the threatening rain all day. A busy jazz-lovers schedule was waiting for us there.

Joshua Redman

We started out with some Joshua Redman, tenor sax, and artist in residence of NSJ 2012. Last year we had plenty of time to admire him, however this year we had to hurry to see NYC's favorite crooner, Tony Bennett. An 85 year old gentleman, who still entertains. His songs were short (2 minutes each), but he sang many standards. Also, he did a duet with his daughter Antonia, very sweet. It was amazing to see this artist perform at his old age, we feel very happy to have heard him (you don't know how much longer he will sing after all :p ).

After Tony, we went to see a very weird big band, led by saxophone player David Kweksilber, a guy that could be related to Kramer from Seinfeld. They played some crazy tunes, I guess for real die hard fans, but not our thing ;)

David Kweksilber

It stopped raining, so we enjoyed a few songs outside by Lianne La Havas, a cute Norah Jones type, before Joost spotted a saxophone player in the program he didn't know; Marius Neset. As NSJ offers the great opportunity to discover new musicians, we quickly went to his concert.

This turned out to be the best performance of the day. Marius, a 25 year old Norwegian sax player, was playing with his quartet. It was amazing! He plays like a young Michael Brecker, and really impressed everybody with his skills and musicality. In one piece he started some crazy rhythmical multi-phonics, which continued the whole piece (he can't get tired apparently) and was awesome.

Marius Neset

Next on the list was Jan van Duinkeren's Footprint, a nice hip Jazz ensemble. It was fun to learn that this trumpet player was a former (kind of) classmate of Marina. Also, during the whole days Joost would continuously run into friends, colleagues etc. Nice to see how many people he knows.

Benny Golson

An old legend was next, tenor sax player Benny Golson (83 y), with his Dutch quartet. Benny used to play with Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, and John Coltrane to name a few. His repertory was full of bebop/ hard bob classics, most composed by himself. He liked to introduce his songs with lengthy stories, but when he took more than 20 minutes to introduce "I remember Clifford", we left.... The stories were entertaining at first, but we came for the music you know ;)

The last concert we attended was by Benjamin Herman, a famous Dutch sax player. He had recently composed the soundtrack from Eddie Terstal's Deal, and today he came with a big ensemble (with lots of strings) to perform this soundtrack. I think he spoiled most of the movie's plot by introducing all tracks, but who cares anyway. The songs were great!

Here's an interesting video of Benjamin Herman.

This concert concluded our NSJ 2012 experience, and it was wonderful! Thank you Joost for introducing me to jazz and NSJ!

Btw, can you guess what Joost plays himself?

A disappointing football match & a great 5K!

 Today was a good follow up to yesterday's disappointing football match. We traveled to Utrecht to visit some of Jaap's friends. It was great day with fun company and lots of tall, orange people. Europe is experiencing some football fever. The European Football Championship started this Friday and Nederland's first match was yesterday. They lost to Denmark, but I still had fun watching the game with Jaap's friends. We went to a pub in Utrecht and I was surrounded by orange giants everywhere. I forget how tall Dutch people are!

Me, Angela & Billy

This morning was the Maastricht Mooiste. A race that starts and ends in the Markt for 5K, 10K, or 15K runners. This year I registered with my school board and colleagues, hence the yellow Mosalira running shirt. I ran a 5K and waited for my friend Angela to finish the 10K. It was the perfect day for a run.

 Angela and I have started a tradition of finishing the race and having lunch on the Vrijthof afterwards. The perfect spot for watching the 15K runners close to the finish line. We did this last year and I think this will become an annual thing.

 Later on Jaap and I took a stroll through the city and found some great live music. The city was alive today with happy runners and live music in the streets for Jekerjazz. (Jekerjazz are organized jazz weekends in Maastricht throughout the year). We found a group next to Café Pieter and pulled up some chairs. We've seen them before and they're fun to listen too. Another great afternoon in the sun!

Adventures in Bohemia: Musical Nights

And now for the final installment of our Prague and Bohemian adventures. In between returning from Prague and writing this post we have since made a trip to and from Berlin with Jaap's hometown band for a wind band music festival. So...the blog is falling behind whatever "schedule" I try to maintain. 

I'm very busy at work right now with two upcoming musical productions. There are tons of details to keep track of that I sometimes can't think straight. It's pretty ridiculous. But in the end it will all come together. (I hope). Plus Jaap and I have been going to a lot of extra rehearsals and concerts for our orchestra and guest performances with Jaap's band. More about that later, but for now...back to Prague!

The best thing about being with Jaap is our shared musical background. As much as we take advantage of the musical scene Maastricht has to offer it's not nearly as exciting as traveling to big cities like Prague. One night of jazz, one night of classical, and stopping to hear many street performers made our Prague trip a musical one. 

Rudolfinum, home of the Czech Philharmonic

Exploring Wencelas Square 

One night we had drinks with one of my friend's from Dutch class, Alex. It turns out he was doing research in Prague the same time we were there. Alex's Czech landlord recommended we check out Jazz Dock. We tried to go with Alex, but it was closed for a private party. Jaap and I ventured back the next night and enjoyed an evening of cheap drinks and music. It was another relaxing and romantic way to escape from all the tourists and enjoy each other's company. Can't say I recommend the particular group we saw perform, but still a great evening.

Our last day in Prague was low key. Lunch at a secluded tea house, a walk around Wenceslas Square, and reading in a Franciscan Garden. We found this huge bookstore near Wenceslas Square and had fun shopping in the English section. I miss English bookstores! The large bookstore in Maastricht is beautiful to look at, but their English section is so obscure. I always wonder, "Who's ordering these books and does anybody buy them?" So when we're out of Maastricht and we find a decent book store, we spend a lot of time there. Here's Jaap enjoying the warm weather with a new book.

Our last night in Prague was wonderful. We bought tickets to the Czech Philharmonic at the Rudolfinum months before our actual trip. We heard Dvořák's Water Sprite and Rimsy-Korsakov's Scheherazade, symphonic suite. There's something about sitting in a beautiful concert hall, listening to one of the best orchestras in the Czech Republic, perform music of a Czech composer (Dvořák). It's really quite powerful. Not to mention, the Rudolfinum is a site to see in itself. Absolutely beautiful. The whole evening reminded me of hearing Mozart and Schubert in Vienna. Austrian performers performing music of Austrian composers. There's something special about that. Only they can do it best. 

I was sad to see our Prague trip come to an end, but it was time to head back to the real world. A romantic stroll on the Charles Bridge was the perfect ending to another adventure with Jaap.

Jazz, shopping, and some TEFAF

My week at work was very busy, so I was looking forward to all the fun things that were planned for the weekend. Jaap and I went to a Jazz Maastricht Masters concert at the Theater aan het Vrijthof on Friday night. Dianne Reeves was the headliner and she was amazing. The real deal. I got goosebumps. The opening act was a jazz trio with Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi. We weren't familiar with him, but we really enjoyed their set. 

Maastricht Conservatorium

Dianne Reeves

Theater in the background aan het Vrijthof

Saturday afternoon was spent with shopping with my friend Angela, enjoying lunch at the Derlon Hotel, and sipping some glasses of rosé wine at a very "Maastricht" bar on their small hidden terrace. Spring is officially here and everyone is flocking outside to enjoy the sunshine.

The perfect ending to a classy weekend ended with a trip to TEFAF, THE European Fine Art Fair. TEFAF calls itself "the world's leading art and antiquities fair". With the exception of André Rieu concerts, TEFAF is the biggest thing that happens in Maastricht. TEFAF is where museum curators, art collectors, and millionaires from all over the world come to purchase art, antiques, jewelry, rare books and manuscripts, paintings, fine jewels, etc. Collections of sketches and paintings by Picasso, Renoir, Chagall, and Klimt. The list goes on and on. It makes you think...Who is buying this stuff? It's really incredible. 

photo: Tefaf.com
Exhibitor: Daphne Alazraki

Opera glasses anyone?
photo: tefaf.com
Exhibitor: Wartski

By far, my favorite exhibitor was Graff. An exhibitor that had two of their own private security guards protecting their cases of diamonds and fine jewels. Their pieces were incredible. Collections and sets of jewelry with incredibly huge white and canary diamonds, emeralds, and rubies. It was so beautiful. My friends and I stood in amazement gawking at a 100 carat pear shaped diamond for about 5 minutes. What a sight!

Fun Fridays

 

Friday was the perfect day! Hiking in Belgium, beautiful sunny weather, and an evening of dinner and jazz with and friends. The weekend started off on a good note.

On Friday I drove to Belgium to visit my Australian friend, Rosalie, from my Dutch class. I still think it's cool that I can say I drove to Belgium for the afternoon. It sounds quite far, but it's only 3 km away.

We went for a hike through part of a Belgian national park. It's really close to Maastricht, so I definitely want to take Jaap back. The park has a series of trails that you can take that are connected in a huge square shape. I could have easily gotten lost here. It was the perfect fall day and really reminded me of home. Thanks to Rosalie for showing me this part of Belgium and for lunch!

Jaap and I made plans to hear some jazz at Café Forum in Maastricht on Friday. I read about the Jeker Jazz weekend on Forum's website. There were many jazz performances at various clubs and bars throughout the city over the past three days. We saw a local group called the New Orleans Brass Connection. Coincidentally our friends Céline and Guillaume were going there the same night. An added bonus! 

Living with a brass/jazz guy has turned me into a jazz lover. I pretty much had no interest in jazz before I met Jaap and now I really enjoy our jazz nights out together. The New Orleans Brass Connection was great and would definitely see them again in Maastricht. Good musicianship, great sound, and very entertaining. 

Isn't this a great view of Maastricht? Another reason why I love our little Dutch city. 

Turning 30 at North Sea Jazz

I have officially left my 20s behind and have entered my 30s! Turning 30 at North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam was a great way to celebrate my birthday with Jaap, good friends, and great music. Thank you Jaap for a wonderful weekend of music and good times.

Jaap is a big jazz fan and thanks to him, I'm starting to become one too. He usually goes to North Sea Jazz with his friend Joost and now this year, I got to go. Once we saw the line-up I was anticipating this weekend for several months. Unfortunately, Joost could not attend on Friday, so Jaap decided we should go for two days. Friday night was important for us because Paul Simon was one of the headliners. Not exactly jazz, but who cares? We were so excited. We were only three rows away from Paul. Here's a picture of us waiting for the show to begin. That's Jaap's head on the bottom. Hee hee.

Paul Simon reminds me of my parents and how they made us listen to Graceland in pretty much every car ride when we were younger. I'm thankful though because now I'm a big fan. I wish my parents were there for this concert, they would have loved it. Here are some videos that Jaap made of 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover and Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes. They're a little shaky because Jaap was dancing along. You can hear my ridiculous singing in the background accompanied by some girls next to us. 

The great thing that I like about these jazz festivals is the ability to hear so many different types of music from so many great artists in one evening. It's perfect for someone with ADD tendencies like myself. If you don't like one performance, you just get up and walk to another room to hear someone else. Paul's performance was great and the venue was packed. After him came B.B. King and you pretty much couldn't room the place was so crowded. We saw bits and pieces of it from the outside while enjoying some drinks.

Later on we went to a big venue to hear Rubén Blades perform some salsa with famous salsa trombonist Jimmy Bosch. From Paul Simon to Latin jazz in one hour...good stuff!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Day two at Jazz Fest, started with a birthday breakfast and a nice long bike ride. Both Friday and Saturday we borrowed Joost's and his wife's bikes to get to the festival. It took us about 35 minutes each way by bike. (That's 140 minutes of bike riding for you math whizzes, something I would have never done before living in the Netherlands). Jaap complimented me on how my bike riding skills and tolerance level have improved. Tolerance level meaning, I don't complain as much as I used to on the bike. That's a huge compliment coming from a Dutchie. :)

Joost suggested we ride the bikes through Erasmus tunnel to see a different part of Rotterdam. To get into the tunnel you have to take your bikes down an escalator, a first for me. Dutch people do everything with their bikes. 

Joost

Erasmus tunnel

Joost is a jazzer himself and a tenor sax player. He suggested that we see Joshua Redman perform on Saturday. We got there early and had good seats. The tone quality, technique, and control this guy has over the sax is incredible. What a great performance. During his last number something happened to one of his keys on the sax, so he didn't add an encore at the end. Joost said, "That's why you don't give your sax to a roadie." :) Despite that, we all agreed that it was greatest performance we heard all day. 

Joshua Redman & Brad Mehldau

 Throughout the day we saw a lot more artists after Joshua Redman including: Chaka Khan, Seal, a bossa nova artist named Adriana Calcanhotto, and Kurt Elling 'Swinging Sinatra' with the Klüvers Big Band. 


Here is a video of us enjoying one of the outdoor sections with DJs on the roof. My friend Erika from NYC and her boyfriend Kars met up with us as well. What a great evening! Thanks again to Joost, Marina, and family for hosting us and special thanks to Jaap for making my 30th special. :)