Montreux Jazz Festival

The Montreux Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival created in 1967 by Claude Nobs, which takes place in Montreux, Switzerland facing Lake Geneva. It is the best known of Switzerland's music festivals.

History

The Montreux Jazz Festival was founded in 1967 by Claude Nobs, Géo Voumard and René Langel with the help of brothers Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegün of Atlantic Records. The festival was initially held in the halls of the Montreux Casino, with the presence in those years of exclusively Jazz artists, names like Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Evans, Soft Machine, Weather Report, The Fourth Way, Nina Simone, Jan Garbarek and Ella Fitzgerald, but from the 1970s he opened up to other styles of music, including performances by artists such as Marianne Faithfull, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Deep Purple or Canned Heat, among others., although jazz continued to be the most important part of the event. The festival currently runs for two weeks and attracts over 200,000 spectators.

Carlos Santana first performed in Montreux in 1970, Van Morrison did so in 1974, and again in 1980. Other notable performances during the '70s and '80s include B.B. King, Albert King, Gary Moore, Don Ellis, Crossfire, Buddy Guy, Camarón de la Isla, Chuck Berry, George Clinton, Mel and Kim, Eric Clapton, Luther Allison, Bo Diddley, Stan Getz, Airto Moreira, Joe Henderson, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Charles Mingus, Etta James, Sonny Rollins, Son House, Count Basie, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Gilberto Gil, Ray Charles, Hermeto Pascoal, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Rory Gallagher, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Elis Regina, Les McCann, Eddie Harris, Mike Oldfield, Pasadena Roof Orchestra, New Order, Jaco Pastorius, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Toto, Zucchero Fornaciari, André Geraissati, Korni Grupa, Jan Akkerman, Joe Satriani or Status Quo.

The expansion that occurred in the 1980s transformed the Montreux Festival into a music event of international prestige. Quincy Jones produced the festivals of the early 1990s. In 1993 the stage moved to the Montreux Convention Center in search of greater capacity. The number of visitors went from 75,000 in 1980 to 120,000 in 1994.

The festivals of the 90s counted with the presence of artists such as Sting, Camarón de la Isla, Bob Dylan, Fats Domino, Al Jarreau, Chaka Khan, Johnny Cash, Cheap Trick, Cheb Mami, Youssou N'Dour, Ice-T, Jazzmatazz, Earth, Wind & Fire, ZZ Top, Simply Red, Marisa Monte, George Benson, Alanis Morissette, David Bowie or Paul Simon. In 1999, the festival recorded an attendance of 220,000 visitors.

The 2005 edition took place from July 1 to 16 with the participation among many others of Isaac Hayes, Billy Preston, B. B. King, Albert King, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Alice Cooper and George Benson.

The British rock band Deep Purple, has participated in up to eight editions of the festival, 1969, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2013, publishing three albums recorded during it. Throughout its history, there have been numerous artists who have released albums recorded live taking advantage of their performances at the festival.

Sponsorship, Montreux Jazz Festival, 2012

The 2020 edition, which was due to take place between July 3 and 18 and featured artists including Lionel Ritchie, Brittany Howard and Lenny Kravitz, was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is the first time that the festival has canceled an edition.

Audioslave performing live on Montreux Jazz Festival, 2005.

Discography

• Alanis Morissette: Live at Montreux 2012 (CD/DVD/Blu-ray)
• Alice Cooper: Live at Montreux 2005, 2005 (CD/DVD)
• Atlantic Family: The Atlantic Family Live at Montreux, 1977
• Baby Consuelo: Baby Consuelo ao Vivo – 14th Montreux Jazz Festival1980
• Bill Evans: Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival, 1968
• Bill Evans: Montreux II1970
• Bill Evans: Montreux III1975
• Bob James: Live at Montreux2005
• Bobbi Humphrey: Bobbi Humphrey Live: Cookin' with Blue Note at Montreux1973
• Bobby Hutcherson: Bobby Hutcherson Live at Montreux1973
• Burning Spear: Live at Montreaux Jazz Festival 2001
• Camarón de la Isla y Tomatito: Montreux 1991
• Carlos Santana and Wayne Shorter: Carlos Santana and Wayne Shorter – Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1988]]
• Carmen McRae: Live at Montreux1989
• Charles Earland: Kharma1974
• Count Basie: Montreux '77
• Deep Purple: Live at Montreux 1996
• Deep Purple: Live at Montreux 2006
• Deep Purple: Live at Montreux 2011
• Dennis Brown: Live at Montreux1979
• Dexter Gordon and Junior Mance: Dexter Gordon with Junior Mance at Montreux (Prestige, 1970)
• Dexter Gordon: Blues à la Suisse (Prestige, 1973)
• Don Ellis: Don Ellis Live at Montreux, 1977
• Don Pullen " the African-Brazilian Connection: Live...Again: Live at Montreux (Blue Note, 1993)
• Earl Hines: West Side Story (Black Lion, 1974)
• She Fitzgerald: Montreux '77 (Paul, 1977)
• She Fitzgerald: Digital III at Montreux1979
• Gary Moore " The Midnight Blues Band: Gary Moore " The Midnight Blues Band - Live at Montreux 1990 (DVD)
• Gary Moore: Gary Moore – The Definitive Montreux Collection
• Gene Ammons: Gene Ammons and Friends at Montreux (Prestige, 1973)
• Pascoal Hermetus: Ao Vivo Montreux Jazz (1979)
• Rory Gallagher: Live in Montreux2006
• Dizzy Gillespie: The Dizzy Gillespie Big 7 (Paul, 1975) Dizzy Gillespie Jam (Paul, 1977), Musician, Composer, Raconteur (Paul, 1981)
• Hampton Hawes: Playin' in the Yard (Prestige, 1973)
• Jamiroquai: Jamiroquai – Live at Montreux 2003 (DVD)
• Jethro Tull: Live at Montreux 2003 (2CD/DVD)
• João Gilberto: Live in Montreux1985
• Joe Pass: Montreux '77 - Live
• Junko Onishi: Junko Onishi Trio at the Montreux Jazz Festival (LD/VHS) (Toshiba EMI, TOLW-3253, 1997)
• King Sunny Adé: Live at Montreux1982
• Korn: Live at Montreux 2004
• Les McCann: Live at Montreux, 1972
• Little Milton: What It Is: Live at Montreux1973
• Louisiana Red: Live in Montreux, recorded 1975 (Earwig 2000)
• Luther Allison: Live in Montreux 1976–19941996
• Marlena Shaw: Marlena Shaw Live at Montreux1973
• McCoy Tyner: Enlightenment (Milestone, 1973)
• Michel Petrucciani: Power of Three1986 (Blue Note, LP/CD)
• Mike Oldfield: Live at Montreux 1981
• Miles Davis & Quincy Jones: Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux
• Modern Jazz Quartet: Together Again: Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival '82 (Paul, 1982)
• Monty Alexander: Montreux Alexander: The Monty Alexander Trio Live! at the Montreux Jazz Festival, 1976
• Nile Rodgers & Chic: Live at Montreux 2004
• Ofra Haza: At Montreux Jazz Festival (CD/DVD)
• Oliver Nelson: Swiss Suite (Flying Dutchman, 1970)
• Oscar Peterson: Oscar Peterson Jam – Montreux '77
• Peter Tosh: Live at Montreux1979
• Randy Weston: Carnival (Freedom, 1974)
• Ray Bryant: Alone at Montreux (Atlantic, 1972)
• Ray Charles: Live at Montreux 1997
• Run-D.M.C.: Live at Montreux 2001
• Sam Rivers: Streams (Impulse, 1973)
• Simply Red: Live At Montreux Jazz Festival (part of the album Stars Collectors Edition, 1992)
• Steve Earle: Live at Montreux 2005
• Stevie Ray Vaughan: Live at Montreux 1982 " 1985
• Sun Ra: Live at Montreux1976 (CD/2xCD/LP/2xLP)
• Talk Talk: Live at Montreux 1986
• The Dubliners: Live at Montreux1976
• Titãs: Go Back1988
• Tommy Flanagan: Montreux '77
• Tori Amos: Live at Montreux 1991/1992
• Van Morrison: Live at Montreux 1980/1974
• Yes: Live at Montreux 2003
• ZZ Top: Live at Montreux 2013
• Several artists: Montreux Summit Volumes 1 fake2, 1977 – Double Album that collects the performances of several Columbia Records artists including Bob James, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Billy Cobham, George Duke, Benny Golson, Eric Gale, Hubert Laws or Maynard Ferguson among others.