Miscellaneous Montreux Jazz Festival dedicates itself to its musical roots
US musician Jon Batiste performs on the lake stage in Montreux VD.
Image: Keystone
Jazz musicians Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue open this year's Montreux Jazz Festival.
Image: Keystone
US musician Jon Batiste performs on the lake stage in Montreux VD.
Image: Keystone
Jazz musicians Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue open this year's Montreux Jazz Festival.
Image: Keystone
Trombone Shorty and Jon Batiste opened the 58th Montreux Jazz Festival on Friday. On the newly constructed lake stage, the American artists, who have known each other since their youth, brought a touch of New Orleans to Lake Geneva.
The opening evening will be very "symbolic and will delve into the jazz and North American roots" of the festival, festival director Mathieu Jaton told the Keystone-SDA news agency before the start of the music festival. "It's a dream come true to see these two artists from New Orleans together," he said happily, hoping that a bit of a bayou feeling would arise on Lake Geneva.
Trombone Shorty - a virtuoso on the trombone and trumpet as well as an excellent singer - was in Montreux for the fifth time. He wowed the audience with a repertoire from his latest album "Lifted". The 38-year-old made the audience "crazy" with his fusion of funk, hip-hop and rock - the title of one of his songs.
He also received applause from Jon Batiste, the second act of the evening on the lake stage. The two musicians have known each other since their early youth. Jon Batiste, who first appeared in a shiny gold suit, showed off the full range of his skills as a multi-instrumentalist and singer - from drums to piano to melodica. The artist gave his only European concert this summer in Montreux.
"Marching Band"
When the concert came to an end, Jon Batiste and the band took a long dip in the crowd. Then they marched through the streets of Montreux. In the tradition of the "Marching Band", the typical parades of the Louisiana capital, they played, surrounded by enthusiastic fans, on the route of around one kilometer to the gates of the Palace.
This year, the festival stretches 1.5 kilometers along the waterfront. Due to construction work in the 2m2c concert complex, this year's paid concerts will take place in the Casino and on the lakeshore. The stage overlooking Lake Geneva on the Place du Marché serves as an open-air Stravinski auditorium, which has been enlarged by 1,000 to 5,500 seats. British pop musician Henry Moodie and Canadian singer Lauren Spencer Smith performed in the Casino on the first day of the festival.
Renowned musicians
As usual, the festival program features top-class musicians. Deep Purple, Kraftwerk, Sting, Lenny Kravitz, Duran Duran, Diana Krall, Jamie Cullum, Dionne Warwick, Massive Attack, Paolo Nutini and Zucchero are expected to perform. In addition to the 64 paid concerts, around 500 free concerts and activities will take place on 15 stages between the 2m2c and the Place du Marché.
The festival director counts singer Raye and the jazz-funk band Vulfpeck, who rarely perform in Europe, among his favorites. In the Casino, he is looking forward to the duo of the two guitar virtuosos Thibaut Cauvin and Mathieu Chedid as well as the concert by Britanny Howard.
Great response in advance sales
"We are very, very pleased with ticket sales," said Jaton. Ten concerts were sold out at the time of the interview. 16 concerts on the lake stage were as good as sold out. "That's a historic figure," said the festival director happily. In the casino hall, many concerts had exceeded the 1000 of the 1300 available seats. He expected intimate concerts there.
Jaton was not discouraged by a "few raindrops on Saturday". The weather forecast for the coming week was good. The event also takes into account the European Football Championship taking place at the same time. The games can be watched at four or five locations. Jaton emphasized that the focus is always on the music. The Montreux Jazz Festival runs until July 20.
