Jazz venues
The Netherlands has a number of jazz venues and innumerable jazz cafés. The jazz venues are united in the Vereniging Nederlandse Jazzpodia en Jazzfestivals (VNJJ). In this association professional jazz venues which only program jazz music, are joined with smaller venues which often operate on the basis of volunteers and with venues which attach special emphasis to their jazz programming in addition to the other music they offer.
Jazz venues
On the website of the VNJJ you will find the names of larger and smaller venues in the Netherlands. A number of larger jazz venues in the Netherlands are:
Bimhuis
Jazz stage in Amsterdam. Here, jazz history is celebrated, young talent develops and the conversation about musical conventions and freedom is ongoing. The bimhuis has been a hub in the national and international network of groundbreaking music since 1974.
Paradox
PaRaDoX in Tilburg opened its doors in 1985 and has since grown into the most important jazz stage in the south of the Netherlands. The concert program consists of national and international successful musicians, established names and new discoveries. They organise jazz concerts in the broadest sense of the word: from modern jazz to combinations of jazz with pop, funk, hip-hop, world music, blues and classical music.
Jazz International Rotterdam
Jazz International Rotterdam has been a major part of the Rotterdam jazz ecosystem for over 25 years. As a programmer 'without a stage', they have built up a unique position over the years, collaborating with various venues and schools in the city. Among others with LantarenVenster, De Doelen and Jazzcafe Dizzy.
Umbrella organisations
Then there are the venues where jazz is either sporadically or quite regularly offered. To a large extent these are connected with one of the following umbrella organisations:
VSCD, association for theatre and concert hall managements
Combines 121 large and medium-sized urban venues which are all financed by municipal government. They have 147 theatres (different kinds of venues). Except for six large concert venues (Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Doelen Rotterdam, TivoliVredenburg Utrecht, Muziekcentrum Eindhoven, Muziekcentrum Enschede and De Oosterpoort in Groningen) all the venues involve a mixed programming of music and other performing arts.
VNPF association of Dutch pop venues en festivals
Promotes the interests of 104 venues and festivals. Because there is increasing crossover between jazz and pop music, these venues organize jazz concerts more often now, albeit sparsely.
Other interesting venues in Amsterdam
DE RUIMTE
DE RUIMTE gives beginning musicians and artists a place to develop themselves in all freedom and to confront them with an audience. They organise a lot of interesting jazz, improvisation and new chamber music concerts.
Zaal 100
Also called the Stage for Unheard Sounds (Podium voor Ongehoord Geluid). Every Tuesday there's an improvisation concert at the cafe of Zaal 100. This evening is a meeting place for improvisational musicians and international colleagues.
Podium Mozaïek
Podium Mozaïek is a theatre in Amsterdam-West, established in the former Pniëlkerk on the Bos en Lommerweg. The programming ranges from world music, theatre and exhibitions to spoken word performances from national and international artists alike.
Roode Bioscoop
This venue is an old, small, wooden theatre (up to 100 visitors) which programmes a wide range of artistic events on weekly bases, from modern classical music to jazz, from poetry to storytelling. The theatre has a strong local audience and a wonderful team of organisers/programmers, some of which employed and some of which are volunteers.
Mezrab
The Mezrab is a cultural centre which focuses on storytelling, concerts, dance and more. With a minimum of four weekly performances and a huge fan base, the Mezrab provides a wonderful opportunity for young artists to try out their act on a medium sized stage (of up to 150 people in the audience) with great technical equipment (sound, light alike) and a warm and always-enthusiastic audience.
Would you like to organize a performance yourself at an unusual location? Please note that you are not allowed to just play somewhere in the Netherlands. Municipalities lay down the rules in the 'General Local Ordinance' (Algemene Plaatselijke Verordening, APV), where you can check whether you need a permit.