‘100 years of jazz in Rotterdam’ also means a history of remarkable jam sessions, jazz evenings and crossover initiatives. Some of them stand out from the crowd, and one of those is CrimeJazz. These legendary evenings from the recent jazz past were organized by Philip Powell (founder of BIRD and winner of the Rotterdam Laurens Medal 2018) and art curator Sasha Dees.
CrimeJazz
(NL/US)
Inspired by the spoken word scene that emerged in the 1990s in New York and London, from 1998 to 2008 Dees and Powell organized CrimeJazz: Words Poetry & Beyond, in an appealing literary crossover programme that mixed various forms of the spoken word with hip-hop, jazz, folk, soul and other music genres. The focus was on originality, quality and diversity. The evenings attracted both national and international artists, and it was precisely because anything could happen that CrimeJazz had such a big impact on Rotterdam’s jazz culture. CrimeJazz became an important breeding ground for an emerging generation of ground-breaking artists such as Sabrina Starke, Jamie Woon, Marjolijn van Heemstra, Typhoon and Nick Mulvey.
CrimeJazz is returning to Festival Jazz International Rotterdam for one night only. A unique opportunity to experience this legendary concept once more close up, in the intimate setting of Theater Walhalla at De Kaap.
Line UP
- Sophia – Vocals, performance, songwriter
- Swendeline Ersilia – Poetry / spoken word
- Amara van der Elst – Poetry / Spoken word
- Janna Lagerstrom – Singer-songwriter
- Sharrif Simmons – Poetry / Spoken word
- Heli (aka Lennie st Luce aka Ms ina Propriate) – Host
