For the first time in its six-year history The Hague Jazz Festival expanded from two days to three. Also it was the first time it was held in a stadium. Not quite the setting for a jazz festival, add to that the soaring rain and you can imagine the atmosphere. Nevertheless over ten thousand people a day found their way to see performances by a mixture of artists. Perhaps not all was jazz, but people did not seem to mind that.
Among my favorite artists was Lizz Wright who opened her performance with a great and powerful a cappella introduction. Other names worth seeing were Joe Sample trio featuring Randy Crawford, Rachelle Ferrell, Cassandra Wilson and Dutch singer Trijntje Oosterhuis. In the smaller venues, people could enjoy trumpeter Wallace Roney or The Jazz Message celebrating Art Blakey, who played some very recognizable tunes from the famous album Moanin’. Unfortunately the smaller venues were very crowded which made it nearly impossible to make some good photos or even get a view at the stage.
Because of some start-up issues the program was severely delayed the first two days. So it had to be that people were waiting in the rain for 45 minutes to see Angie Stone. And although many visitors were lament about the organization, they were not so about the music.
