Big names don’t disappoint: Noel Gallagher, Sinead O’Connor, Van Morrison, Tony Bennett, Bobby Womack, Jane Birken

Full Montreux programme, pdf

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – This wasn’t the plan, but the Montreux Jazz Festival has unveiled its music programme, just hours after Paleo, its lively younger cousin, posted its programme 17 April.

A terse message arrived in journalists’ mailboxes Tuesday evening 17 April, stating that the programme is being published: “Following an indiscretion by a Swiss media, which published some information it received from one of its readers – despite an embargo imposed by the Montreux Jazz Festival (MJF) – the programme for the 46th edition of the Festival was partially revealed on its German language site, two days before the official announcement.”

The headline names offer the usual rich selection, and newer musicians provide a rich and eclectic mix for the festival that runs from 29 June to 13 July. Tickets for two hugely popular artists have already been on sale: Noel Gallagher and his new project “Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds”
and one of Germany’s biggest names, Herbert Grönemeyer.

Tickets for the rest of the programme go on sale Friday 20 April at 10:00 and all information will be available on the website Wednesday April 18 at 14:00, montreuxjazzfestival.com.

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LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The Montreux Jazz Festival likes to surprise and this year’s poster will startle more than one concert-lover. American photographer Greg Gorman has created the first MJF poster to feature a photographic image since 1967, the first year of the festival.

This year’s poster, says Gorman, focuses on the contemplative experience of listening to music.

The Montreux Jazz Festival takes place 29 June to 14 July 2012.

“The model’s pose should suggest movement, as he is turning his head as if he had heard something and wants to hold onto it – a fleeting moment. It is perhaps a voice, a noise or sound. The sand dune in the background also plays an important role. The sheer height and depth of the dune evokes a sense of emptiness and in its simplicity presents a stage for contemplation, a central experience when listening to music. The open background also provides literal space for the viewer’s own interpretation. The subject is placed in a non cluttered open environment.

“The visual arts, from an illustrative point of view, are less confrontational than photography.  I believe that the decision to allow me to present a nude was a very courageous one, because nudity in photography is real and very direct. To offer a photographer carte blanche once again after so many years clearly illustrates the readiness of the festival to try out new things, to take risks and to surprise people.”

Gorman stepped into photography through his love of music. He borrowed a camera to shoot Jimi Hendrix at a 1968 concert and when he saw the image come up in a darkroom he was hooked, he says. In his 40-year career Gorman has photographed scores of musicians, including: Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Frank Zappa, Grace Jones, Elton John, George Clinton, Boy George, Tom Waits, Billy Idol, Leon Russell, Nina Hagen, Fleetwood Mac, Morrissey, Iggy Pop, Vanilla Ice, P. Diddy, RuPaul, Divine, Bette Midler, John Lee Hooker, David Bowie and Quincy Jones, Joan Jett, John Mayer, Melissa Etheridge, Debbie Harry, Crosby, Stills and Nash and Joe Cocker.

He draws a clean parallel between the discomfort yet esthetic appreciation nudes can provoke and the way music can work on us. “Nudity can be fascinating, but may also make some viewers uncomfortable, even nervous. I think music can have the same effect and I think that is one of the interesting things about this project. I love the total unexpected element of the male nude. Music can surprise, unsettle and sometimes even confuse people. A male nude even more so than a female nude, because it is still often thought of as taboo. Hopefully on a certain positive level, this image will have the same effect, but be able to break through that stigma. It is in many ways classical in nature, strong in shape and form and yet delicate and fragile in scale and balance. All of this can be referenced to the extraordinary art of listening to music.”

A Montreux poster is not just all in a day’s work

For those who think photography is a matter of snapping a shot, and for those who are dying to know who the model is, Gorman offers a few words:

“I teach photography workshops at my home in Mendocino, California, four times a year.  And that was where I first worked with the model, Jordan David Miles, a 21-year old skateboarder and graffiti artist from Southern California. The initial idea arose from a similar shooting I had done with him, the previous year. During the subsequent shooting for the festival poster, however, l became involved in a long discussion with Jordan, who did not share my vision, and we had to cancel everything the first time out in the dunes because we just weren’t on the same page. I very much value critical feedback and I took Jordan’s concerns very much to heart. I knew we had to be in sync if the concept was going to work. At the second shooting, the light was not working in our favor. It was very overcast and I could not get the contrast, which is a key element in my photography. Finally our third attempt went very well. From all of the previous work, we knew what we needed to accomplish-the exact location, the angle, the right time of day for the light to be perfect (in essence, all of the aspects that needed to go into the photograph including the model’s body language). We got the picture in the can in less than half an hour. All the previous work helped to add to a better result in the end.”

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MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND – Police Monday evening issued their full report on security and crimes during the Montreux Jazz Festival, following an earlier report on the last weekend of the hugely popular Festival which ended on a sour note, with 21 people detained by police in separate incidents between Friday evening and Sunday morning, 15-17 July.

The report calls the security situation “worrying”, despite a well-coordinated policing and safety effort that included cantonal police, the Riviera city police group, criminal police responsible for arresting those caught committing a crime, highway patrol teams from the region, firefighters, emergency crews and private security firms. The festival was faced with a level of violence not seen before.

Security forces and local retailers noted a trend towards younger people buying hard alcohol and taking it into the festival, where they got very drunk, say police, “and where the mob mentality [went] to work, with a bump or a look taken amiss and used as the excuse for a fight”, with police and security guards often the first target.

Police registered some 100 complaints during the festival and they arrested 100 people, 52 of them for drug abuse. They seized 292.5 gr of marijuana, 9 gr of hash, 5.5 gr of cocaine, 0.5 gr of crack, 3.5 gr of amphetamines, 112 Ecstasy pills and 20 ml of GHB.

Security staff parked 47, 600 cars, 1,400 more than in 2010. Firefighterse, who put in 1,000 hours of service during the festival, notably put out the fire from a stand near the Miles Davis Hall, caused by a faulty gas cannister installation.

Fights and violence most worrisome aspect

The most serious early sign of violence came at about 02:00 Saturday 9 July when two groups got into a fight and a man who was not involved in the fight was knifed in the stomach. He was taken to Montreux Hospital where he had eight stitches. He filed charges and the person who attacked him was identified and turned over to to the public attorney after a hearing.

The violence the last two nights took place mainly in the Montreux Jazz Café, where several groups, clearly under the influence of alcohol, went after private security guards and then the police who brought reinforcements. At one point Saturday police were faced with 300 rioters throwing stones, bottles, chairs, parts broken off cars. Several members of the security forces were injured, with the most serious a police officer who was hospitalized and who received 13 stitches to the forehead and head.

Bicycles and motorcycles parked in the area were heavily damaged, and other property was damaged.

Eleven people, including two minors, were detained between Friday and Saturday morning, Ten more people were held by police between Saturday evening and Sunday.

Police are asking witnesses to phone +41 (0) 21 644 4444.

Organizers say the festival drew in excess of 230,000 people this year.

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GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Are you a gas-burning road hog who loves festivals and concerts? You might have to change your ways this summer, with  environment and sustainable development the buzz words for Swiss festivals.

Montreux Jazz Festival, keeping an eye on electricity consumption (photo: Odile Meylan)

 

Montreux Jazz Festival, which runs to 16 July, is the first of the big summer festivals and it provides details about its environmental efforts on its web site. The MJF notes that it’s been given the Green ‘n Clean award from Yourope, which awards festivals that actively work to protect their impact on the environment.

Montreux turns on the lights, turns down the consumption

Two measures the MJF cites are its work with Alpiq to provide very low consumption lighting for Le Jardin and its work with e-covoiturage to reduce the number of cars coming to the festival.

Walk! World’s largest sports event encourages us to use our legs

The giant multicultural, multi-event Gymnaestrada, which has brought 20,000 gymnasts from around the world to Lausanne this week, said loud and clear at the outset that its sustainable charter was being given top priority. Walk to the events, as a starting point, it tells visitors.

Green festivals: a balancing act (photo, Gymnaestrada, 11 July group events)

The event  increased the population of Lausanne by 20 percent overnight, creating rubbish and other problems, the organizers notes.

It details its green efforts on a web page, which at the end puts the onus on you and meet to make the charter work: “Help us to make this idea of sustainable development a reality! On a daily basis, travel sensibly, eat healthily, sort your rubbish and switch the lights off after you. From now on, you can support the WG-2011 by calculating your carbon footprint and committing to reduce it!”

Gymnaestrada runs until 16 July.

Paleo pushes festival-goers to reflect on transport

The Paleo Festival in Nyon opens 19 July and it will pull in more than 230,000 people by the time it ends 24 July. Paleo sent out a newsletter Tuesday 12 July about its efforts to push concert-goers in the right direction: greener travel.

The CFF rail company offers 20 percent off to anyone who goes by train, and online car-sharing options work for both Switzerland and France. RouteRank, newly improved, is a great way to find the best options for getting from your place to Paleo, and to find out your environmental impact in the process.

St Prex Classics, small is beautiful but also gentler on the environment

A late summer festival, the newly renamed St Prex Classics, takes another approach to the environment by keeping things manageable: 10 concerts over two weekends in intimate surroundings in the lakeside old town (Vieux Bourg) of St Prex (two are in Morges, this year only). The concert, now in its fifth year, runs from 16-28 August.

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Here’s one of the country’s largest music festival, this year the likes of Ricky Martin, Carlos Santana, BB King, Youssou N’Dour, Sting and more during two weeks. Check also the free music all over town.

Location: Montreux, Switzerland
Link out: http://www.montreuxjazz.com/2011/fr/program11/p…
Date: 1 Jul 2011

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Old and loved coming to Montreux: BB King, Jimmy Cliff, Santana, Ricky Martin, George Benson and more

Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The web site of the Montreux Jazz Festival was hacked Tuesday 12 April and the programme, a closely guarded secret, was published online two days ahead of the official announcement. The festival office has hired a company to find the leak.

Officially, we won’t know until Thursday 14 April at 10:00 what the complete lineup is, but unofficially, most of it is already out there, the MJF office said Tuesday.

The festival office has produced the official if incomplete programme. Check back Thursday for more news.

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Sting at an Abbey Road rehearsal for the Symphonicity tour, part of Montreux Jazz Festival 2011

Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Sting will play at Montreux 11 July, the Montreux Jazz Festival announced Monday morning, with tickets to go on sale Wednesday 9 March at 10:00.

The announcement about his Symphonicity tour concert comes well ahead of the programme announcement for the rest of the festival. Sting will perform with a symphony orchestra and band, conducted by Sarah Hicks, at the Auditorium Stravinski.

The jazz festival statement notes that: “Sting’s most celebrated songs have been re-interpreted especially for this tour and  will include fan-favorites such as The Police hits “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”, “Roxanne”, “Next To You” and “Every Breath You Take,” to notable songs from Sting’s enduring solo career – “Englishman in New York,” “Fragile,” “Russians,” “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You,” “Fields Of Gold,” and “Desert Rose.” Sting will also be joined by a group of accomplished musicians, comprised of Dominic Miller (Sting’s longtime guitarist), Rhani Krija (Sting’s longtime multi-genre percussionist), Jo Lawry (v! ocalist) and Ira Coleman (bassist).”

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EPFL’s new media centre has exclusive research, educational use rights to make digital record of musical treasure

Ray Parker Jr.'s smooth vocals - Photo ©Montreux Jazz Festival

Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Ten thousand recording tapes will now become the Montreux Jazz Festival (MJF) library, “the largest testimony of live music recorded at the same place (more than 4,000 bands played in Montreux), both in audio and video, for the past 40 years resulting in 10,000 recording tapes,” EPFL and the Montreux festival enthused when the project was announced in 2008, as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the MJF.

The global economic crisis hit soon after.

It has taken two years to find the funds, one person close to the project told GenevaLunch, but it has a home as of December 2010, at the MetaMedia centre for new media announced 9 December at EPFL.

The importance of the project has repercussions for the entire music world: back in 2008 the joint announcement by the Lausanne polytechnic university and the festival noted that “Despite the use of the best state of the art technologies at the time of each recording, there is urgency for their safeguard.” The physical deterioration and technological obsolescence of the audio-visual media, says EPFL today, “of which there are no backup copies—has prompted the Montreux Jazz Festival to find a solution to manage these media in the long term.” Great 20th century recordings of music by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Phil Collins and David Bowie risked being lost.

Audemars Piguet, the Swiss watchmaking company, Montreux Sounds (owned by MJF founder Claude Nobs), Kudelski in Lausanne and EPFL have joined forces to make the digital record of 5,000 hours of music, representing some 4,000 artists. The group calls the collection of music “a unique treasure and without a doubt one of the greatest musical documents of the past 40 years”.

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Montreux Jazz Festival, 1-16 July 2011.

Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Organizers of the Montreux Jazz Festival released the poster for the 45th edition of the world-renowned music festival 2 December. The poster is designed by Swiss artist Francis Baudevin, an artist from Bulle, canton Vaud, who lives and works in Lausanne.

The Festival breaks with tradition  to choose an abstract painting for its poster, only the second time in its history to do so. Baudevin is currently showing at Mark Mueller Gallery in Zurich until 18 December.

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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.

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Geneva cools off at the beach (photo, ©2010, Peter Brodbeck)

Geneva and Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – There’s no excuse for being bored or lonely this weekend, with the weather hot and sunny and crowds hitting the lakes and swimming pools, as well as concert halls and outdoor arenas.

Two of the biggest and best music events in Switzerland are taking place: the Montreux Jazz Festival (ticket information) in canton Vaud and Zurich’s Zuerifaescht 2010. See our Geneva Living guide to surviving Montreux for all the practical tips, plus a host of freebies, and if you’re heading for Zurich, seriously consider taking the train because parking will be at a premium in the packed-out city.

Weather forecast: hot hot hot and more sunshine – be sure to check the national weather service forecasts on the GenevaLunch weather page, and pack some sun lotion and water bottles into your bags. Highs between 31 and 33 throughout Switzerland, for the next five days.

Swimming: the swimming pools by the lakeside are one of Lake Geneva’s best vacation features, and there are plenty of beaches around the lake, so check out our list and head for the water to cool off.

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The Miles Davis Hall programme now complete for MJF

thedeadweather_mjfMontreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Alternative rock, dark melodies and hard riffs are on the agenda for 3 July 2010 when The Dead Weather play at the Miles Davis Hall, completing its programme as part of the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Jack White (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs) and Alison Mosshart (The Kills) are joined by bassist Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs) and guitarist Dean Fertita (Queens Of The Stone Age). The four will release an album in May.

Tickets for the concert go on sale Thursday 6 May at the FNAC, Ticket Counter and online at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

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2-17 July: complete programme now online and ticket sales start online 29 April at 10:00

Programme, pdf

montreux_jazz_festival_poster_2010_romero_brittoMontreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Montreux Jazz Festival kicks off 1 July 2010, a day before the official opening of the 16-day concert series, with a special show by Vaud resident Phil Collins. Collins will take the audience back to the 1960s with  his interpretations of memorable Motown hits.

Montreux then moves to Africa, in keeping with the South African mood set by the summer World Cup Football championship: a concert in tribute to Miriam Makeba, Angélique Kidjo with African stars will celebrate “Mama Africa” and Youssou N’Dour will end the evening with the Dakar-Kingston.

Big band and jazz lineup

The Auditorium Stravinski will host big bands of Pepe Lienhard and Roger Cicero 12 July. Herbie Hancock will play John Lennon’s biggest hits 16 July and Quincy Jones will present his Global Gumbo All-Stars, a group composed of young artists he discovered in Montreux.

Jazz is a Montreux must and this year features Keith Jarrett, Pat Metheny, Brad Mehldau and Chick Corea’s Freedom Band.

Ticket information

Montreux Jazz Festival site

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Montreux Jazz Festival 2010, by Britto

Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The new Montreux Jazz Festival poster is out, with Romero Britto, Brazilian neo-pop artist providing the bright and lively artwork. This is not Britto’s first work for the Festival: some will remember that he did the poster work for the 33rd Montreux Festival in 1999.

His work is energetic, lively and fresh, defined by a harmonious use of colour and space. His style is on the edge between the directness of marketing and the subtlety of fine art. Think of Paul Klee with a spray can.

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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

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Melody Gardot, cool incarnate

Melody Gardot, cool incarnate – Photo courtesy of Montreux Jazz Festival

Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch)Melody Gardot is either an old soul hiding out in a young woman’s body, or an incredibly aloof, and self-assured performer, or both.

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The party's over for this year

The party's over for this year - Photo ©Jared and Gabriela Bloch

Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Seventeen July, the final day for GenevaLunch at the Montreux Jazz Festival, and I think I finally figured it out.

Having driven to Montreux from Geneva three days, and taken the train a fourth day, I would opt for public transportation next year. Festival parking was well organized (as previously noted) but really by the time you negotiate Lausanne traffic, find parking, walk or bus it to the Convention Center, and then do the same in reverse, a good nap on the train looks mighty appealing.

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Ray Parker Jr.'s smooth vocals - Photo ©Montreux Jazz Festival

Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – There was a time warp in Montreux last night that took me back to the days when I used to sing in front of the mirror waiting for the moment when I could go dancing with the big girls, on a “Ladies Night” because even then I knew, “A Woman Needs Love” and it is easy to get lost in “Boogie Wonderland.”

These  are some of the dance and R&B anthems of the late 70s and 80s performed to a packed auditorium at the Montreux Jazz festival last night, 16 July.

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King Solomon holds forth - Photo courtesy of Montreux Jazz Festival

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.

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Blind Boys of Alabama at Stravinsky Hall- Photo courtesy of Montreux Jazz Festival

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.”

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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!

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Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Driving to Montreux from Geneva, a friend and I get off the autoroute in Lausanne and wind our way through Prilly, Lutry, Vevey, and other villages and past the terraced vineyards and marinas bording Lake Geneva.
Mise en Scene for the Montreux Jazz Festival-Photo by Jared Bloch

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?

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George Duke warms up for the evening with a performance for TSR-Photo by Jared Bloch

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.

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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

Montreux crowd pleaser, George Benson - photo courtesy of Montreux Jazz Festival

Benson opened his set with a tribute to BB King as well as to Rachelle Farrell, whom he followed in the evening lineup. “They’re gonna’ be cleaning the paint off the floor for weeks,” Benson said of Ferrell’s set, and then lit into his own pyrotechnics.  The full-house crowd cheered him on through the midnight hour and cried for more when he closed with a lively rendition of “On Broadway.”
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The Crowd in Stravinsky Hall

The Crowd in Stravinsky Hall - Photo courtesy of Montreux Jazz Festival

Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - If Rachelle Ferrell’s musical expressiveness is shocking, this is a good thing.

Ferrell, a Montreux veteran, treated the audience to her awesome vocal range and facial acrobatics as she warmed the crowd up by running her rich voice up and down the word M-O-N-T-R-E-U-X.

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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.

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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.

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Fête du Bois, Lausanne school parade

Geneva, Lausanne and Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva and most international schools in the area finished the 2008-09 school year 26 June, last Friday, but canton Vaud children are still braving hot days for their last week of school, which finishes Friday 3 July.

Lausanne’s primary schools Wednesday 1 July celebrated the end of the year with their traditional Fête du Bois parade through the city, to the cheers of parents.

Images: reproduced with permission, celestialpilgrim (see his complete parade collection on flickr). Click to view larger.

Summer music festivals begin

3678534315_4b2d2f8cd3Summer now begins in earnest, by popular acclamation, in the Lake Geneva region with city  music and arts festivals.

Montreux Jazz Festival

The Montreux Jazz Festival opens Friday 3 July. Expect long lines at the A9 autoroute entrances to Montreux, and if you’re going to the festival from another town, seriously consider taking the train. The festival’s new magazine is out, with day by day highlights. The free music in the streets pulls in crowds so prepare to mingle! [Ed. note: GenevaLunch articles on the Montreux Jazz festival are here. We'll be reviewing the festival for you, starting next week]

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Title: Montreux Jazz Festival
Location: Montreux, Vaud
Link out: Click here
Description: Founded by Claude Nobs in 1967, over the years the Montreux Jazz Festival has become an unmissable event for music fans in Switzerland and around the world.
The 2009 festival promises another fun week of music and more in Montreux.
Start Date: 03 Jul 2009
End Date: 18 Jul 2009

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Orquestra da bomba do Hemeterio, Brazil

Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The popular Brazilian night at the Montreux Jazz Festival will be open to all this year, festival organizers announced 27 May as they unveiled the free festival programme. The Carnival Olinda-Recife will be at the centre of Brazilian night 11 July but the party will spill onto the streets of Montreux as the evening unfolds, to create a very carioca atmosphere in the lakeside city.

Music in the Park and the Montreux Jazz Café will also open to non-ticket holders that day.

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montreux_jazz_festival2009.jpgMontreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The new Montreux Jazz Festival poster is out, designed by award-winning illustrator Tomi Ungerer, possibly best known for his children’s books but also famous for his advertising work.

The festival also announced the dates for the 2009 programme: 3-18 July.

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