Every summer at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Jaquelyne took care of the backstage area, where she reunited with longtime friends and looked forward to meeting the new generations. When introducing herself to artists, she would simply say, “I am the backstage girl.” Whether they were emerging talents or global stars, all quickly discovered that Jaquelyne was much more than that. During their stay, she was both a protector, a trustworthy ally, a strict coordinator, and a fantastic storyteller. The fiercest rockers nicknamed her “mom” while Prince greeted her with a mischievous smile and a bow. She could tell you many stories about AC/DC, Mariah Carey, or Nina Simone.

Jaquelyne was also known for her famous lined notebooks, A4 size, which she never parted with. She wrote everything, one page per day, one color per hall. “At first, everyone laughed. Even Claude. Yet he found it quite convenient that I could give him the information he needed when he ran into me.” After each concert, Jaquelyne would put down her notebook and gather everyone backstage to applaud the artists when they got out of stage. A gesture that surprised and touched the artists, accustomed to being applauded on stage, rarely backstage.

Yesterday, on January 18, 2024, Jaquelyne made her final exit from the stage. We invite everyone—family, former colleagues, staff, managers, and artists—to come together to applaud, in turn, this great lady who “simply loved people”.

Farewell, Jaquelyne.

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You loved to tell these words: “Nothing is impossible”.

Ten years after your passing, this dreamer’s determination continues to inspire the artists, the public and the MJF teams every summer. We would have loved to see the stars in your smiling eyes when your Festival invited legends like Stevie Wonder or Diana Ross for the first time, when it transformed a stadium for Elton John or when it created a stage on the lake as you had always dreamed of. 

If these beautiful fantasies were made possible, it is thanks to the spirit that you shared with everyone around you. For you have achieved the impossible countless times in Montreux. It is enough to evoke a few names – Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, David Bowie, Deep Purple, Prince – to bring back extraordinary stories, told from generation to generation. A collective memory in perpetual evolution, which will continue to be enriched for many years to come.

You have always preferred to look forward, but on this special day, allow us to honor your life and your work. An exceptional legacy that was recently celebrated in the documentary series “They All Came Out To Montreux“, narrated by those who knew and loved you. Among these tributes, we will remember the simple but fitting words of your friend Carlos Santana:

“This cat was fun to be around!”

Merci pour tout. Thanks for the fun, Claude.

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The two thousand privileged people present at the Montreux Jazz Lab on July 12 can testify to this: Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinnerwere on fire that night. After having played each song with a constant urgency, The Smile finished the concert with “Bending Hectic”, an unreleased song written during their stay in Montreux. This epic composition is now part of their live favourites, having been played more than twenty times since.

« This is the continuation of a beautiful story between Thom Yorke and the Montreux Jazz Festival, after Radiohead’s mythical passage in 2003 and his sublime solo concert at the Auditorium Stravinski in 2019. I like to think that this history, as well as the quality of our teams’ hospitality and the excellence of our audio-visual recordings have contributed to this magical moment, which is one of the long line of legendary concerts immortalised in Montreux.»

Mathieu Jaton, CEO Montreux Jazz Festival

The concert will also be video streamed on the band’s Youtube channel on Tuesday 13 December from 9pm (Swiss time), for a limited period. The broadcast will include the exclusive track “Bending Hectic”.

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With over 70 performances and testimonials from: David Bowie, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Deep Purple, Aretha Franklin, Gilberto Gil, Buddy Guy, Herbie Hancock, Alicia Keys, Questlove, Quincy Jones, John Mclaughlin, Marcus Miller, Prince, Rag’n’Bone Man, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, Nina Simone, Sting, Shania Twain, Jack White and many more.

Three one-hour episodes, more than 40 testimonies, 30 concert performances and a variety of previously unseen images: never before has a documentary of this magnitude been made on the history of Claude Nobs and the Montreux Jazz Festival. By immersing the audience in the Festival’s exceptional archives, They all came out to Montreux offers a breath-taking panorama of half a century of music history. In total, more than thirty concert excerpts, from the 1960s to the present day, are included in the documentary.

THE STORY OF A LARGER-THAN-LIFE AND VISIONARY CHARACTER

Although the artists occupy a prominent place in the series, the main protagonist of this incredible story is obviously Claude Nobs, nicknamed Funky Claude by Deep Purple. We discover how he managed to transform a small Swiss town into an unmissable live music event, out of love for his region and for jazz. The documentary tells the story of Claude’s journey from his childhood and the challenges he had to face in a society often hostile to his projects and his personality, considered too different at the time.  Narrated by a host of artists, relatives and sometimes by Claude himself, the series paints a portrait of an extraordinary and visionary character.

AN INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY DIRECTED BY OLIVER MURRAY

They all came out to Montreux is the third documentary by British director Oliver Murray, who has previously made films about Ronnie Scott, founder of the famous London jazz club, and Bill Wyman, bassist of the Rolling Stones. It was while working with Wyman that Oliver Murray first heard the name Montreux:

“Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman told me that the greatest moment of his career was playing the Montreux Jazz Festival with his heroes Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy. That’s how I discovered the amazing extent of the Montreux audiovisual archives.”

Oliver Murray

Oliver Murray and the production teams faced a major challenge in making this series during the covid crisis: interviews with artists and relatives of Claude Nobs were conducted remotely around the world, while production was managed between Switzerland, London, Paris and Sydney.

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Michel Ferla began working with Claude Nobs in 1969 after meeting him at a concert by bluesman John Mayall in Montreux. At his side, Michel quickly established himself as a key player in the fields of tourism and culture. For 15 years, he managed the Montreux Tourism Office and became the administrative director of the Montreux Jazz Festival until 1993. Together, Michel and Claude travelled all around the world and promoted the city everywhere they went, exporting the Festival to Atlanta, Detroit or Sapporo. A great lover of Montreux, Michel Ferla never ceased to be an extraordinary ambassador for the city, especially during his years as vice-president of Suisse Tourisme until 2013.

The thoughts of the entire Montreux Jazz Festival team are with Michel’s family and friends.

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“One does small things without knowing that they will become historical”. So said René Langel, following the vinyl release of the Charles Lloyd concert – recorded during the very first edition of the Festival, the one he created with his friends Claude Nobs and Géo Voumard.

These little things which have become historical, René recounted them in his own words in a short text that we let you discover below.

The thoughts of the entire Montreux Jazz Festival team are with René’s family and friends.

Les débuts du Montreux Jazz Festival, par René Langel

« Juillet 1967, je calcinais sous le soleil de Juan-les-Pins, allongé sur la plage du Grand Hôtel quand une ombre d’oiseau de proie vint interrompre ma rêverie. C’était un jeune homme très poli, mais à ce moment bien exalté, qui se présenta ainsi :

• « Je m’appelle Claude Nobs, je travaille à l’Office du tourisme de Montreux. J’ai vu le concert extraordinaire du quartette de Charles Lloyd hier soir et j’ai pensé à ça toute la nuit : mon idée est de faire venir ce groupe en Suisse l’an prochain, de créer un Festival de Jazz à Montreux et j’aimerais profiter de vos conseils, vous sachant très introduit dans le monde du jazz par votre métier de journaliste et de critique ! »

L’idée tombait certes du ciel mais ne pouvait que séduire. On eut une petite discussion passionnée ce jour-là mais c’est à notre retour en Suisse que les choses, loin de s’estomper, s’emballèrent sérieusement. Encore fallait-il trouver une manière de lancement à la fois originale et peu coûteuse car le budget accordé par l’Office se limitait à dix mille francs suisses de l’époque ! Deux voies nous étaient ouvertes : solliciter le soutien des marques de disque ou, en s’inspirant du lancement à Antibes du Festival de Juan-les-Pins en 1960, créer une aspiration de jeunes talents à travers un concours, international cela va sans dire.

Je savais que mon ami Géo Voumard, responsable des Variétés à la Radio Suisse Romande, était membre du comité de l’UER, l’Union Européenne de radiodiffusion, et pouvait à ce titre trouver une bonne idée et nous apporter peut-être un soutien. Nous nous retrouvâmes ainsi à trois pour ficeler ce projet qui, grâce à l’entregent de Géo, prit la forme d’un concours national au sein des pays membres, aboutissant à l’envoi des lauréats de chaque compétition nationale à Montreux. Ainsi, la subvention servirait au seul cachet du quartette de Charles Lloyd, celui-là même que Claude Nobs avait entendu à Juan-les-Pins et qu’il voulait à tout prix engager comme ensemble-vedette.

Ainsi fut fait et, grâce aux collègues et amis journalistes contactés à Juan et à la presse locale, la première édition du Festival de Jazz de Montreux connut un succès médiatique retentissant. Avec les années, la boule de neige allait tourner en avalanche… »

René Langel, août 2019

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Simone and James’ albums are the first releases of Montreux Jazz Festival and BMG’s brand-new collection series “The Montreux Years”. The collections will uncover legendary performances by the world’s most iconic artists alongside rare and never-before-released recordings from the festival’s rich 55-year history, with mastering performed by Tony Cousins at London’s iconic Metropolis Studios, incorporating MQA to capture the original sound of these special live performances. Each collection will be accompanied by exclusive liner notes and previously unseen photography.

NINA SIMONE: THE MONTREUX YEARS

Nina Simone’s story from the late sixties to the nineties can be told through her legendary performances in Montreux. Taking to the Montreux stage for the first time on 16 June 1968 for the festival’s second edition, Simone built a lasting relationship with Montreux Jazz Festival and its Creator and Director Claude Nobs and this unique trust and electricity can be clearly felt on the recordings.

Simone’s multi-faceted and radical story is laid bare on ‘Nina Simone: The Montreux Years’. From Nina’s glorious and emotional 1968 performance to her fiery and unpredictable concert in 1976, one of the festival’s most remarkable performances ever witnessed, the collection includes recordings from all of her five legendary Montreux concerts – 1968, 1976, 1981, 1987 and 1990.

The CD edition of ‘Nina Simone: The Montreux Years’ will also include Simone’s 1968 landmark concert in full, the first time the full concert will be available on CD.

ETTA JAMES: THE MONTREUX YEARS

‘Etta James: The Montreux Years’ is a treasure trove of timeless classics, powerful and electrifying performances and raw, soaring vocals by one of the greatest ever female vocalists. The collection, featuring recordings from James’ live at Montreux concerts in 1977, 1978, 1989 1990 and 1993, encapsulates and reflects Etta’s dynamic artistry and long-lasting impact. Spanning performances from across three decades, ‘Etta James: The Montreux Years’ offers deeply personal and intimate snapshots into James’ acclaimed musical journey, highlights and her phenomenal career.

In 1975, Claude Nobs captured a significant moment of musical history – Etta James’ very first concert in Europe, performing at the festival’s 9th edition. The CD edition of ‘Etta James: The Montreux Years’ will include highlights of this special landmark concert, held at Montreux Casino on 11 July 1975.

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