New names
for CNSJ 2016
announced:
Tom Jones,
Michael Bolton,
Jamie Cullum
and more!

It is with great joy and also a little pride that the organisation of the Curacao North Sea Jazz festival is able to announce new names for its 7th edition, which takes place on September 1, 2 & 3. Great musicians such as Tom Jones, Jamie Cullum, Level 42, Branford Marsalis & Kurt Elling and Melody Gardot will be coming to the island on Friday. Michael Bolton and Snarky Puppy are confirmed for Saturday.

Especially for the festival, producer Sergio George has formed Our Cuban Affair. An extraordinary project to let the audience enjoy the best music Cuba has to offer. Around Alexander Abreu’s top formation Havana D 'Primera a bevy of singers has been collected. Aymee Nuviola, Isaac Delgado, Paulito FG and the lead singers of Los Van Van have been confirmed. A one-time historical event which will kick off the Friday at the Sam Cooke stage.

The organization is still busy with various other artists who will be announced in the course of the coming months.

Sir Tom Jones is a living legend: the Welsh singer boasts a career of over fifty years and countless successes. He gave the world classic hit singles such as It's Not Unusual, Delilah, What's New Pussycat, Kiss, Sex Bomb, and many others. Besides that, he took young talents under his wing as a coach on TV-show The Voice UK and last year released his first ever autobiography, Over The Top And Back, as well as its soundtrack, his latest album Long Lost Suitcase.

Michael Bolton is a multi- Grammy Award winning, internationally renowned Singer and Songwriter who has sold over 60 million records worldwide, won 2 Grammys for Best Pop Male Vocal Performance (nominated four times), 6 American Music Awards, and holds a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  As a songwriter, he has earned over 24 BMI & ASCAP Awards, including Songwriter of the Year, 9 Million-Air awards, and the Hitmakers Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. To date, Michael has seen 8 studio albums rank in the Top Ten, with 9 #1 singles.  He has penned hits for artists as diverse as Cher, Barbara Streisand, KISS, Jay Z & Kanye West. He has recorded and performed with legends like Ray Charles, BB King & Luciano Pavarotti.  He has written with icons ranging from Bob Dylan to Lady Gaga. He is also the recipient of the Martin Luther King, Lewis Hine, and Muhammed Ali Humanitarian Awards, and founded the Michael Bolton Charities for women & children at risk, now in its 24th year. 

Jamie Cullum is an authority on jazz and a prominent figure in the music world, working as an arranger, producer, as well as being involved with several documentaries and films and hosting his own radioshow at the BBC. Besides all that, of course, he’s also an award-winning singer, pianist and composer. His most recent album is 2014’s Interlude.

In the 80s, Level 42 kept climbing the charts with hit singles such as Running In The Family, Something About You, and Lessons In Love. The British band based around singer and bassist Mark King is known for his powerful and lighning-fast bass playing, among other things. After a hiatus lasting several years, the group has been touring the world again since 2001.

Saxophonist Branford Marsalis has been a guest at the festival before: he performed both with his own band and with superstar Sting. Marsalis built his experience playing with Sting, Art Blakey, and Lionel Hampton, he was the bandleader on The Tonight Show and toured with his project Buckshot LeFonque. This year, he will not only bring his own quartet but also singer Kurt Elling, who is known for his range of four octaves, his technical prowess and his emotional depth while singing the most beautiful songs.

Melody Gardot discovered the piano at a young age but also found that music could be therapeutic after suffering a serious accident. She taught herself to play the guitar as well as compose songs, and has released four albums to date, the latest being 2015’s Currency Of Man.

Snarky Puppy plays fusion jazz like it was meant to be played. The collective has a lineup existing of about forty rotating members, and experiments with varied styles. Earlier this year, they received a Grammy Award for their album Sylva, recorded with the Metropole Orkest.

It has already been announced that a traditional free concert will take place at the Sam Cooke main stage, on Thursday night September 1st. This year, there will be performances by none other than Kassav’ and Juan Luis Guerra.