The jazz festival in Montreux on Lake Geneva drew a positive balance after two weeks on Saturday. Around a quarter of a million visitors experienced around 500 concerts, shows and other events. Some of the big names in jazz, funk, soul, house and pop could also be seen on the many free stages.
The festival is known for its intimate atmosphere. There is the big stage Auditorium Stravinski with 4000 seats, where James Brown, David Bowie and Carlos Santana have had legendary performances, and the Montreux Jazz Lab with 2000 seats. In addition, there are also numerous free stages in the town on Lake Geneva in front of a picturesque mountain backdrop, including the Ipanema nightclub, where guests can dangle their feet in Lake Geneva.
Musicians always provide magical moments in Montreux – and this year too. There was Seal, for example, who quickly got off the stage, taught the audience how to sing backing and then delivered his songs in the middle of the audience. Or Jon Batiste, who, after the stage show, went down the stairs from the Stravinski Auditorium with his whole troupe, singing and dancing, to the street and continued to play there for another hour in front of an enthusiastic audience. “Montreux is an oasis where musicians create something new,” the organizers quoted him as saying.
From Bob Dylan to Emmet Cohen
Known as the “child prodigy,” jazz pianist and composer Emmet Cohen gave the audience goosebumps on The Memphis’ free stage. There he interpreted the classic “It Could Happen to You” from 1944. The US bass guitar player Marcus Miller answered fans’ questions there and explained how rhythmic sound is created.
Another highlight was a jam session without an audience, which the festival organizers uploaded to YouTube as a video on Friday: In a hotel ballroom, Sofiane Pamart and Chilly Gonzales sat down at a piano with flip-flops and a coffee cup and improvised a four-handed instrument. In the middle of the game, they swapped places so that each played the high keys and the low keys.
Bob Dylan did the honors on the opening weekend – mumbling as usual and playing the harmonica. With a few songs from his 2020 album “Rough and Rowdy Ways,” the 82-year-old reached back to earlier genius times, critics wrote.
