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MUSIC FESTIVAL

Pharrell Williams set for first Montreux jazzfest

American R&B singer and rapper Pharrell Williams and pop legend Stevie Wonder are among the stars headlining this summer’s Montreux Jazz Festival, organizers said on Thursday.

Published: 3 April 2014 12:38 CEST
Pharrell Williams set for first Montreux jazzfest
Pharrell Williams: gearing up for his maiden appearance in Montreux. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Others in the lineup for the 48th annual Swiss festival include Massive Attack, Amy Macdonald, Robert Plant & The Sensational Space Shifters, Robin Thicke and Montreux veteran Van Morrison.

Williams, a singer-songwriter who has chalked up hits with the likes of Daft Punk and Thicke, is surfing on the success of Happy, a song he composed for the soundtrack of the Despicable Me 2 animated film.

The song took on a second life as part of a global “happiness project” that has encouraged groups from cities around the world (including numerous Swiss cities) to post videos set to the music.

Williams is set to perform for the first time at the festival on July 7th at the Auditorium Stravinski, while Wonder is scheduled to appear at the same venue on July 16th.

Festival organizers said that bringing soul icon Wonder to Montreux had been among the "most cherished dreams" of its founder "Funky" Claude Nobs, who died in a skiing accident in January 2013.

This year’s festival on the shores of Lake Geneva, running from July 4th to the 19th, features the return of familiar jazz figures such as Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, Dave Holland, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, as well as the blues icon Buddy Guy.

For more details check the Montreux Jazz Festival website.

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MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL

Line-up released for Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival

After being postponed due to the Covid pandemic, the Montreux Jazz Festival will be held this July.

Published: 1 June 2021 16:45 CEST
Line-up released for Switzerland's Montreux Jazz Festival
A statue of Freddie Mercury in the Swiss town of Montreux. Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

British singer-songwriter Rag’n’Bone Man and French neofolk musician Woodkid are headlining this year’s Montreux Jazz Festival, downsized and to be held mostly outdoors due to the pandemic, organisers said Tuesday.

French-Lebanese trumpeter and composer Ibrahim Maalouf and British singer-songwriter Arlo Parks, who was named best breakthrough artist at this year’s Brit Awards, are also in the line-up.

“Small is beautiful,” is the informal slogan for the 55th edition of the festival, which was cancelled last year due to the coronavirus crisis.

The festival has been scheduled for July 2-17, coinciding with the planned loosening of anti-Covid measures in Switzerland.

Around 20,000 spectators are expected to turn out — more than 10 times fewer than in 2019, when some 250,000 took part, according to organisers.

For more than half a century, Montreux has been a magnet for big names of the music business and rising stars alike.

It has retained its jazz label despite dramatically expanding its repertoire, with big names in rock, punk, R&B and hip-hop also on the bill this year.

The 2021 programme has been condensed and the format adjusted to easily adapt to the Covid-19 situation in the idyllic Swiss town of Montreux, on the shores of Lake Geneva.

The main stage has been built on the lake, 25 metres (80 feet) from the shore, opposite a grandstand that can hold up to 500 spectators.

It will be one of only four stages used for the festival — two for ticket holders and two free of charge — able to accommodate a total of up to 1,500 people a day.

Tickets go on sale on June 8. Organisers also said they would livestream several of the concerts “in order to bring the festival to a larger audience”.

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