Herbie Hancock, Jill Scott and George Benson announced for North Sea Jazz Festival 2020

The NN North Sea Jazz Festival will celebrate its 45th edition when it returns to the Ahoy Centre in Rotterdam from 10th until the 12th of July with arguably its most high-profile line-up to date. The first wave of artists announced includes a vast array of some of the most successful and revered singers of all-time including Diana Ross, Jill Scott, George Benson and Gregory Porter.

The festival will offer a selection of some of the finest acts from across the jazz world including Herbie Hancock, who celebrates turning 80 with a special anniversary concert, the much-anticipated return of Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride and Brian Blade who bring their Mood Swing Quartet to the festival. There will also be a tribute to John Coltrane by Archie Shepp, a special collaboration between Kurt Elling and Danilo Perez and Israeli bassist Avishai Cohen and his project Big Vicious.

There is also a strong host of UK acts performing at this year’s festival including Shabaka Hutchings with Shabaka & The Ancestors project, Kokoroko, Nérija and Nubya Garcia amongst others.

The Rotterdam-based festival has played host to the likes of jazz greats Miles Davis and Ray Charles all the way through to D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Jamiroquai and Earth, Wind and Fire.

More artists are set to be announced, but the current line-up can be found here.