Santigold brings Brooklyn to Paleo
Nyon, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Not Fancy but Funky, Funny, and Fun. This was a summary of the Santigold show Saturday night at Paleo.
Santigold, a Brooklyn, New York native, has discovered what those other kings of kitsch from the borough, the Beastie Boys, found out 20 years ago; chutzpah is cooler than gangsta’.
Private banker by day, Hip Hop fan by night arriving at Paleo
Nyon, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Amidst Paleo’s 35,000 concert goers on Friday, I met a private banker who had come straight to the festival from the Geneva airport, hoping to catch some of the Hip Hop acts.
“In fact, I was hoping to see NTM [the French rap group Nic Ta Mere] but the lead singer is still under arrest, so they are cancelled,” the Swiss banker, Damian told me.
Damian, who lived and worked in India, was upbeat when I shared with him the lineup for the evening including a Bhangra performance and South African Hip Hop.
Achanak welcomed concert-goers on Friday night with their dance-friendly mix of Bhangra and electro music.
Achanak's irresistable dance rhythms - photo, Jared Bloch
Paleo crowd arriving on Thursday evening - Photo, Jared Bloch
Nyon, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Fans enjoyed unexpectedly sunny weather Thursday evening at Paleo, in spite of intermittent showers earlier in the day. Apart from a few soggy patches at the concert sites, shows went on without a hitch, and the extra plastic sacs and rain gear packed in, went unused.
Mexican virtuosos Rodrigo and Gabriela set the tone for the evening, with a near hour-long guitar duel featuring their own material as well as covers of “Stairway to Heaven,” and “Oye Como Va.” See GL’s Paleo Photo Album
A passageway to India via Nyon - Photo Jared Bloch
Nyon, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - If your vacation itinerary doesn’t include a trip to India this year, consider a visit to the Paleo Festival. As part of its offerings, the Nyon based festival is highlighting Indian culture, music, crafts and food this year.
For your passage to India, take the train to Nyon and then the local train. Direction: St Cergue (see GL tips in ”Practical guide to Nyon’s Paleo Festival,” and see GL’s Paleo Photo Album).
The crowd arriving in Nyon on the 17:00 train on Wednesday left no doubt about the tremendous following Paleo has accrued during the past 30 years. In addition to the range of Indian musicians performing on Wednesday 23 July, an array of musical talent from pop/rock dance favorites Franz Ferdinand, to Bonaparte, billed as an “international cabaret burlesque rock show,” and Quebecois Chanteuse Pascale Picard, was on display.
Paleo crowd, 2009
What it is: The largest outdoor music festival in Switzerland, started in 1976, with over 4.3 million concert-goers since then. In 2008, the audience was 227,000 strong, and there were 146 performances on six stages.
Volunteers, all 4,062 of them, helped to make the experience a great one for all. According to a survey in 2008, 59 percent of concert-goers came from the Lake Geneva region.
Paleo Music Festival, near Nyon, Switzerland, a sea of music-lovers
Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Lake Geneva region’s musical summer is well underway, good for music-lovers, a bit less so for drivers. If you’re on the road between Geneva and Lausanne in the coming week, check the news for traffic jams around Nyon. Festival-goers are urged to use public transport, made easy for them: the CFF rail company is putting on extra trains and reducing ticket prices. The last train for Geneva leaves at 03:00 and for Lausanne-Montreux at 03:30. Shuttles and extra trains between the Nyon train station and the festival operate at 10-minute intervals.
The festival sold out, all 200,000 tickets, in two hours when sales opened in April. An additional 1,000 tickets a day go on sale online at the festival site, to discourage black market ticket sales.
GenevaLunch will be covering the festival daily, bringing you news and reviews.
Montreux closes on a happy note, offers listeners online treats
Read more…
King Solomon holds forth - photo courtesy of Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Solomon Burke or King Solomon as he would have it, cut a large figure at first glance both literally and figuratively last night at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Unfortunately for the audience, neither the oversized crown at centre stage, nor the red sequin dress-clad performers in his lineup were able to translate a string of doo wops and medleys into a royal fest.
Blind Boys of Alabama at Stravinsky Hall- Photo courtesy of Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – “We don’t have much time, so we’re not going to do a lot of talkin’, we’re gonna do a lot of singin’,” Jimmy Carter proclaimed Tuesday night (14 July) in Montreux.
This call to spirituality came not from the Nobel Peace Laureate, though it well could have, but from five-time Grammy award winners the Blind Boys of Alabama, as they warmed up the audience last night at the Jazz Festival. Carter quickly allayed any doubts as to the abilities of the mostly blind and mature-aged entourage, telling the crowd, “The Blind Boys of Alabama don’t like conservative audiences.”
Boo Boo Davis playing the harp - Photo courtesy of Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – My second night at Montreux began with a solid dose of unadulterated Mississippi blues courtesy of Boo Boo Davis and his band members, John Gerritse and Jan Mittendorp.
Davis and company are straightforward in the delivery of the goods, with not a lot of fanfare, and that’s ok. The quality lament of Davis’ blues harp playing together with Mittendorp’s slide guitar backing was a sweet sound indeed inside Stravinsky Hall.
Ed. note: See the GenevaLunch coverage of the 2009 Montreux Jazz Festival, including the complete collection of Jared Bloch’s reviews – George Duke, George Benson, Rachelle Ferrell and more!
Mise en Scene for the Montreux Jazz Festival - photo by Jared Bloch
Watching the lake vista unfold in front of us, I think, the festival setting truly is spectacular.
After getting stranded in Montreux early Tuesday morning – beware of the early morning public transport gap between 01:08 and 05:14 – I decided to try driving. The verdict?
George Duke warms up for the evening with a performance for RSR - photo by Jared Bloch
Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - “Am I the only funk-loving person for whom George Duke is not a household name?” This was my last thought as I wandered home at 06:00 this morning, following Duke’s all-night jam session at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Duke’s introduction by Quincy Jones including “You are gonna get your mind blown once again by this artist,” and “God leaves his hand on the shoulder of some artists longer than others . . .” should have been a clue as to the mind-bending fusion of jazz, R&B, soul and funk that Duke was about to unleash on the ready and willing crowd at Stravinsky Hall in Montreux last night.
Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Montreux favorite son George Benson showed this town why his music still inspires hip gyrations after so many performances.
Montreux crowd pleaser, George Benson - photo courtesy of Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux Jazz Festival 2009
Lake Geneva region (GenevaLunch) – It’s a gorgeous summer day, the temperature is sitting around 27 degrees and I am dreaming of jumping in the bracing waters of Lake Geneva as I skirt the shoreline on the train from Geneva to Montreux.
I am headed to the Montreux Jazz Festival with great anticipation, but little expectation as I am largely unfamiliar with the music of the lineup this evening. This will be my first of three or four forays into the musical smorgasborg that is Montreux the first two weeks of July each year.
Road to Montreux
In addition to well known acts including George Benson, The Blind Boys of Alabama, the Earth Wind & Fire Experience, John Fogerty and Seal, I will be sampling the musical talent present at the festival, including free concerts staged in Montreux’s Parc de Vernex each afternoon.
If you haven’t been able to steal away this year to Montreux, or just want to see more of what’s on hand, check out GenevaLunch for updates through Friday July 17th.
