On Friday 9th, Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th of July, the Netherlands Congress Centre in The Hague will once again open its doors to the 29th edition of the North Sea Jazz Festival. Traditionally this is one of the highlights of the European cultural season, the first edition of the North Sea Jazz Festival, took place in 1976. That very first year the festival featured performances by jazz legends like Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz and many Dutch performers.

Netherlands Congress Centre, The Hague
July 9 through 11, 2004

MUSICAL GENRES
Over the next 28 years, the North Sea Jazz Festival developed into a major happening of truly international proportions: including 15 concert venues, over 1200 participating musicians and an audience of around 70.000 each year. The North Sea Jazz Festival is world-renowned for the many musical genres it offers, ranging from traditional New Orleans jazz, swing, bop, free jazz, fusion, avant garde jazz and elctronic jazz to blues, gospel, funk, soul, hiphop, r&b, world beat and latin.

MUSICIANS
Consequently the list of musicians and bands who have performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival over the years reads like a virtual \'A to Z\' of jazz and jazz-related music. From Nat Adderley, Erykah Badu and The Brecker Brothers to Miles Davis, Ibrahim Ferrerr, Ella Fitzgerald, B.B. King, John Zorn and Joe Zawinul, to name but a few. In addition the North Sea Jazz Festival has also served as a breaking-ground for the introduction of new talent.

NEW TALENT
Some of the names who were first introduced at the North Sea Jazz Festival are now mega stars. That is what makes the North Sea Jazz Festival so unique: It's a real showcase of the past, present and future of jazz music, all under one roof!

\'GIGS FOR KIDS\'
The year 1989 saw the introduction of a new \'North Sea\' tradition, the children\'s jazz matinee \'Gigs for Kids\'. One year later two other successful events were introduced. \'North Sea Jazz Heats The Hague\', is a free festival with performances on 3 open air stages, in pubs and many bars in the center of The Hague.

The exclusive \'Midsummer Jazz Gala\', this concert gives an overview of a large number of projects the multi talented singer/songwriter Elvis Costello was involved with during the past years. Both events normally take place the evening before the festival.

To find out about this year\'s program of the North Sea Jazz Festival, visit www.northseajazz.nl