Judith Nijland (NL)

About

Judith Nijland is a Dutch jazz singer and composer whose work sits at an unusual crossroads: jazz arrangements sung in the Twents dialect, the regional variety of Dutch spoken in the Twente countryside where she grew up. Before landing on that combination, she spent time studying classical languages and jazz vocals, and sang in many other languages first. Coming back to her own dialect felt, by her own account, like coming home, and she finds that pairing Twents with jazz gives the music a lightness and fluidity that feels entirely natural. She writes her own lyrics, a process she describes as flowing effortlessly, and worked with family members to get the pronunciation just right. Live, Nijland performs with pianist Tico Pierhagen and double bassist Pieter Althuis. Her shows aim to move audiences and leave them with something to think about, though the mood stays warm enough that people tend to leave with a smile.