North Sea Jazz Festival
July 8-10, 2011
Ahoy
Rotterdam, The Netherlands

The North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands is staggering in size, touted as the world's largest indoor jazz festival and that's certainly a good bet. With 13 stages running from late afternoon until the early morning hours, it's far more than a smorgasbord. More like an avalanche, but one where the music fan happily stands at the bottom of the mountain.

Artists of all statures perform, from the biggest names to up-and-coming artists. It's also—like most jazz festivals these days—one in which pop, soul and rock acts augment the schedule to make the event more of a draw to general music fans.

The 2011 edition, in the city of Rotterdam, was one in where you could see someone like Ntjam Rosie, a Rotterdam resident who's been working on her sound that combines pop, world music, R&B and jazz harmonies at times. It was a soulful, energetic m��lange that could spring the young singer/composer to fame beyond Europe. She was cool and confident, yet humble. Eager to make her own music and bring it to the world.

And it was also a festival where one of the world's best jazz musicians, saxophonist