Regina Spektor, and former Katy Perry band-member dies in Montreux
Daniel Cho performing
Montreux, Switzerland – The announcement of the death of Daniel Cho, a member of Regina Spektor’s band, came from the singer during her appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Spektor, appearing at the Stravinsky Hall, went on stage with two other band members, looking very frail, visibly upset and crying.
Before starting her set, Spektor announced that the band would try to perform, in spite of having lost one of its band members: their dear, “loving friend” Daniel, referring to Daniel Cho, the band’s Brooklyn-based cellist.
Cho reportedly drowned on Tuesday 6 July while swimming with a friend near the Chillon Castle in Montreux.
The audience, unsure what to make of or do with this information, gave her a loud and warm welcome.
Spektor played a couple songs, very clearly undone, while the jumbo screen zoomed in on her crying, distraught face.
After the third song, she asked the press to stop taking pictures.
The Russian-American singer managed a smile during “Two Birds.” Mostly though, she played melancholic songs, frequently losing her composure. At one point, between songs, she walked away from the mic to embrace a band member before walking off stage.
The guitarist then played an ode to Daniel Cho, and afterwards Spektor came back to play a few solo piano pieces and sang a melancholic Russian song.
Canton Vaud police say that they cannot confirm or deny that the man who drowned on 6 July near Montreux was Cho because family members had not been officially notified and the investigation surrounding his death is still pending.
Cho, was a well-known tour musician who previously played with Coldplay, John Mayer and Katy Perry among others. His MySpace page describes him as an open-minded Berklee College of Music graduate “and flexible when on the road or stuck in a stuffy recording studio for 18 hours straight.”
GenevaLunch has received several comments on Cho’s death. You can read them here.
Video of a Regina Spektor performance where Daniel Cho plays the cello.
Read our previous Montreux Jazz Festival reviews.
[...] http://genevalunch.com/blog/2010/07/08/montreux-jazz-festival-regina-spektor-and-former-katy-perry-b… [...]
[...] Regina Spektor, visiblemente emocionada dijo: “no sé si podamos presentarnos, pero lo haremos en memoria de nuestro bello amigo: Daniel Cho”. Spektor lloró en varias ocasiones y mantuvo su presentación como un homenaje íntimo a su amigo y compañero de banda. [...]
Actually the “melancholic Russian song” is “Après moi”, which does have a stanza sung in Russian.
Daniel’s love for music was only equalled by his love for wife and 1 year old daughter. I sincerely hope that the music industry will do the right thing & step up to support his family. We will all be watching.
God Rest, God Bless, Daniel Cho.
Daniel was a warm, caring young man. He had great talent only surpassed by his great love of family.
May he rest in peace.
[...] is the second accidental death by drowning this week. Monday, Daniel Cho, a cellist with the Regina Spektor band, in town to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival, died [...]
I was acquainted with Dan but didn’t know him well. We did talk a couple of years of ago when he and his wife were expecting a baby. After she was born, he sent me an e-mail with pictures of his beautiful wife and daughter. What I saw was a lovely man who loved his family. I’m heart broken their loss. May he rest in peace.
[...] GenevaLunch » Montreux Jazz Festival: Regina Spektor and former … Share and Enjoy: [...]
I am truly saddened by the unexpected death of Daniel Cho in Lake Geneva on Tuesday the 6th of July. I know Dan’s parents-in-law from the U.S and I live in Melbourne. As the concert here was booked out fast in my state,I especially made the trip to Sydney where Dan was performing with Regina Spector at the Opera House. The concert was brilliant and Dan Cho’s cello playing was all the more special and enjoyable to watch and listen to, as I knew so much about the love for him from the family, and his rise to fame musically.A friend of mine from Sydney and I had the pleasure to meet the charming gentle Dan after the concert which was a thrill, and we chatted about the entertaining musical concert that it was, and about the future Tour destinations, and the excitement of travelling the world. Our deepest feelings of heartfelt sympathy go out to his most loving wife Julia, daughter Audrey, and his most caring parents-in-law Arleen and Ralph. A talented musician so full of life has been taken from the world at such a young age, and at the peak of his career with so many wonderful personal achievements and outstanding Tour highlights – so unexplained.We pass on our love to Dan so he may rest in peace and more love to his very beautiful family he has left behind.
A tragic loss! My sympathy to his family, band and friends.
[...] end of the concert came as somewhat of a shock. She suddenly announced that one of her band members died tragically on tour, got up, hugged the other artists and left the stage. An awkward yet deadly silence hung in [...]
Just stumbled across this post, and it is certainly very sad news. I don’t mean to dishonor the dead at all, but it always bugs me that Berklee alumni are so proud of it. So much so that even in this little write up they have to include the “B” word.
I recorded some footage of Dan playing with Jupiter One and Regina at Sydney Opera House 3 months earlier. Search youtube for key words: coolhandluque Dan Cho Sydney Opera House Jupiter One Regina etc
Thanks for the link, this will no doubt be appreciated by friends and fans.