Jazzy pieces are a special challenge for a symphony orchestra. After all: It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing. The Noord Nederlands Orkest knows what to do with it, it turns out. Especially under the leadership of conductor Garrett Keast, a specialist in the field of swing repertoire. The highlight is the versatile Violin Concerto by jazz icon Wynton Marsalis, with Kelly Hall-Tompkins as the ideal soloist.

From Marsalis, the NNO previously performed the Swing Symphony. If anything, the 2019 Violin Concerto is even more infectious. It contains jazz, but the piece flirts with just about every imaginable American genre. And that makes it grist for the mill of a musical connector like Kelly Hall-Tompkins, who, in addition to her successful performing career, organizes concerts for New York’s homeless.

Equally colorful are the Four Black American Dances, in which Carlos Simon charts his African-American roots. The dances reflect the development of black American music, with elements of African rituals, gospel, tap dance and even waltzes. Of course, this program is complemented by George Gershwin, the man who brought jazz to the concert hall.