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BMG to partner with Montreux Jazz Festival on documentary and live albums
By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 19 March 2021
BMG has announced plans to release a number of albums and a three part documentary series delving into the history of the Montreux Jazz Festival. Both will highlight classic and previously unreleased performances from across the festival’s 55 years.
All the music in the film and audio projects will be drawn from late festival founder Claude Nobs’ extensive collection of audio-visual material. Says Thierry Amsallem, Chair of the Claude Nobs Foundation: “The Montreux Jazz Festival has always been a leading showcase for the international music scene, as well as a meeting place for musicians and music lovers”.
“The magic of Montreux lies in the encounters between musicians”, he goes on. “They were unique events that will never be repeated. The idea was always to allow artists to get off the beaten track and avoid replaying their usual repertoire. Here, we treated them like kings and offer them the best conditions in the world, in terms of sound quality and audio-visual recording technology”.
CEO of Montreux Media Ventures, Nicolas Bonard, adds: “We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to experience these historic and culturally significant musical performances and, through the preservation work of the Claude Nobs Foundation, we hope to bring a bit of Montreux magic directly to fans around the world”.
BMG’s EVP Global Catalogue Recordings, Peter Stack, comments: “The Montreux Jazz Festival is an institution in music. From Nina Simone and Etta James to Dua Lipa, jazz legends and pop icons alike have honoured the Montreux stage with their performances over the past 55 years. This partnership takes viewers and listeners on an intimate journey through time, looking behind the scenes of the legendary festival. Putting together a detailed homage, this is a unique project with the rare opportunity to use audio and audio-visual footage of the highest quality”.
With the working title ‘They All Came Down To Montreux’, the documentary is being directed by Oliver Murray, who recently worked on ‘Ronnie’s’, a feature length documentary about the Ronnie Scott’s jazz club. It will cover the event from its inception up to Nobs’ death in 2013, with its premiere set to take place at the Zurich Film Festival in September.
Details of the first albums to be released as part of the partnership between BMG and the Montreux Jazz Festival are set to be announced next month.
