Utrecht has a bit of everything, including music events covering a variety of styles and interests, from jazz to death metal. For example, the Utrecht Jazz Festival is taking place this week, March 9-13, at various locations around the city, including SJU, RASA, and the Vredenburg Music Center. The theme of the event is Jazz With a Bite. Each day will see a variety of jazz musicians exploring some of the edgier sides of jazz and braving the world of improv. The events range in price from free to €18, with the Saturday performance by the Jan Garbarek Group going for €29.50. The full festival line-up and ticket information can be found on the website.

On the other hand if death metal is more your thing, there's the Suffocation concert at Tivoli on Friday, March 12. The doors open at 17:00 and the show starts at 18:00. Included in the line-up, along with the band Suffocation, are Annotations of an Autopsy, Nervecell, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Burning the Masses. Tickets are €17, and the show is at the Tivoli De Helling location (Helling 7, Utrecht).

Plato, a music store in the center of Utrecht, periodically features free concerts in the store. Tomorrow, 4 March, they will be hosting a free show by El Pino & The Volunteers, an alt-rock/Americana band from Rotterdam. The free show is at 16:30. If you like what you hear, the band will be playing a full show later on in the evening at Ekko, where the doors open at 20:00 and show starts at 20:30. Tickets are €8 for the Ekko show. Plato is located at Voorstraat 35, and Ekko is located at Bemuurde Weerd WZ 3, Utrecht.

This Saturday, February 27, the Rumor Festival takes place in Utrecht. The festival is a night of adventurous music, with performances by three groups in three different locations, for one set price. Tickets are €15/10 (U-pas, student, CJP).

Led Bib, a punk jazz outfit, will be performing at EKKO at 20:30. At RASA Theater, György Ligeti's Mechanical Works will be performed at 21:45. Ligeti was an avant-garde composer famous for his music that appeared in some of Stanley Kubrick's most famous films. Finally, at 23:00, at Theater Kikker, Ansatz der Maschine will be performing a mix of subtle electronica mixed in with horns, violins, saxophones and more to create an adventurous form of pop music.

Construction has begun on the new Vredenburg Music Palace in Utrecht. The music center with dedicated halls for pop, jazz, classical, crossover and chamber music isn't expected to host its first concert until 2013, but to celebrate the start of construction, there will be a concert this afternoon, 18 February, at 17:30. Trumpeters Eric Vloeimans (jazz), Kyteman (pop) and Hans van Loenen (classical) will be performing, while Ingmar Heytze will be performing a poem written for the occasion. Mulled wine and hot chocolate will be on hand to keep the crowd warm for the outdoor performance in Vredenburg Square.

If you're a fan of ska music, head to Tivoli this Saturday for DutchSka 2010, where you'll get everything from old-school '60s ska to up-tempo ska with a punk rock edge. The lineup features Rude Rich and the High Notes, The Upsessions, Bazzookas, and The Shenanigans. Tickets are €14. The show is Saturday, February 14, at Tivoli de Helling (De Helling 7) in Utrecht. Doors open at 19:00 and the show starts at 19:30.

The following week, Babylon Circus hits the stage at Tivoli Oudegracht. This 10-piece band from France is the kind of band you must see live, with their high-energy show combining ska, reggae, and a bit of folk. You're bound to hear some of their influences, which range from Manu Chao to The Clash. Tickets are €15. The show is Thursday, February 18 at Tivoli Oudegracht (Oudegracht 245), Utrecht. The doors open at 19:30 and the show starts at 20:30.

Ticket information for both shows can be found on the Tivoli website.

It's Cultural Sunday time again here in Utrecht, and this month's theme is jazz. There will be swing, bebop, big band, soul jazz and even some blues. You can catch the Tropi-jazz stylings of De Nazaten at various spots around town as they perform at the Neude (12:00), Stadhuis (13:15) and Domplein (14:15). Frommermann, a music and vocal ensemble with a sense of humor will be performing songs from the 1930s, including works by Duke Ellington, The Ramblers and The Mills Brothers, at Ottone (Kromme Nieuwegracht 62). At the Winkel van Sinkel, you can see the Hardest Swinging Orchestra in the Netherlands perform arrangements by Benny Goodman, while dancers do their best lindyhop.

There will be performances all over town, most free, this Sunday, February 7, so check the official Cultural Sunday website for a full list of events, times and locations.

dB's, in conjunction with NPAC, the first Dutch pop academy, is presenting Lijn 4, a music festival featuring eight new acts entering the music industry. The music styles include singer-songwriter, techno and hip hop. This is the fourth year the festival has been organized, programmed and performed by the students, who are working to become entrepreneurs in the music industry. The bands being showcased include Stone Called Fox, Afrock, Jive Junkies and Stephen Wings, among others.

The festival is free and begins at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 7 p.m. The event takes place at Thursday, January 21, at dBs, CAB-Rondom 100, Utrecht.

If you like to mix things up a bit, head to Tivoli de Helling in Utrecht on Saturday, January 16, for Klub Radar. From 9 p.m. to 4 a.m., there will be a wide mix of musical performances. From quiet singer-songwriters like Belgium's Isbells to psychadelic blues rock from Finland's Joensuu 1685 to dubby futuristic horrortech by Scotland's Loops Haunt, you'll get a variety of musical genres all in one evening. Other performers include Clara Clara, Slugabed, and DJ Quasimodo. Doors open at 9 p.m., and the cost for the night is €10.

The following week, former Suede frontman, Brett Anderson, is playing at Tivoli de Helling on Sunday, January 24. He's promoting his latest album, Slow Attack. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are €16.

Tickets and map info can be found at the website. Don't forget, this is the Tivoli located at De Helling 7 in Utrecht, not the one on the Oudegracht.

Feeling a bit light in the wallet, but still want to go out and have a good time on Friday night? Head to Utrecht's Tivoli for the Piekendisco. Only €1 gets you inside to dance the night away to music ranging from rock to alternative, hip hop to electronica, conducted by DJs Dab and Frenzy.

The dance party begins at 11:00 p.m., Friday, January 8, at Tivoli, Oudegracht 245.

I got a few calls about a small flashmob which took place in Amsterdam over the weekend. Then I did some research and found out there were several over the weekend, as part of a sort-of-silent campaign to promote Holland's tap water and raise awareness about the environmental impact of plastic water bottles. Scanning YouTube for some good flashmob footage, I found the best video and the largest group got together and boogied out in the center of Haarlem. I can't resist a well carried out and massive flashmob, and they did a great job, check it out: