Press
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The press service is at your disposal to provide you with all the necessary information and resources regarding the Festival and its universe. We gladly provide you with our official photographs for your editorial projects.
Contact us at the following address: presse@mjf.ch.
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MJF Spotlight Sessions
A digital project born in 2021, the MJF Spotlight Sessions are video capsules of emerging artists produced by Montreux Media Ventures (MMV). The aim of these live sessions is to support artists in the beginning of their careers and to offer them visibility on the MJF’s channels.
After recordings in Montreux, London, Hamburg and Zurich, with artists such as Hermanos Gutiérrez, Nathy Peluso or Sam Ryder, the project took the form of a winter festival by taking place at the Théâtre du Villars Palace in February 2023 and 2024. The public was able to discover artists such as Yamê, Aime Simone, Mentissa, Victor Ray or Lucky Love in a unique and intimate setting.
MMV is a subsidiary of the MJF founded in 2019 and directed by Nicolas Bonard. Its mission is to diversify the Festival’s activities throughout the year, producing high value-added content and musical experiences such as the MJF Spotlight Sessions. During the Festival, MMV is in charge of the audio-visual recording of the concerts and their distribution.
MJF Residency
The Montreux Jazz Artists Foundation (MJAF) Autumn Festival has become an eagerly awaited event for music lovers. The project brings together young emerging talents (the residents) and accomplished jazz artists (the mentors) for a week, consisting of playing sessions and exchanges. In the evening, the public is invited to enter the residence to discover these young talents on stage, meet the mentors during workshops and end on a high note with the famous jam sessions. This fall, MJF Residency welcomed emerging artists such as Maya Delilah and Jasmine Myraz and included established musicians such as Billy Cobham, Roni Kaspi and Ray Lema.
The MJAF is a foundation recognized as being of public utility. It has two main objectives: to discover and support young talents at the beginning of their careers and to offer access to music to all. These projects are led by Viviane Rychner Raouf and Stéphanie-Aloysia Moretti, respectively secretary general and programmer.
A brand that goes abroad
Montreux Jazz International (MJI) develops the Montreux Jazz Festival brand and its passion for music and gastronomy throughout the year, in Switzerland and internationally.
The six Montreux Jazz Cafés, spread across Montreux, Lausanne and Geneva, fuse cuisine and music in a unique way. The café at the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace has many objects from Claude Nobs’ collections. In Lausanne, the EPFL and EHL cafés build bridges between studies, research and the MJF. In Geneva, the cafés at departures and arrivals have become essential stopovers for travellers. At the end of 2024, a new café will be opened at Basel train station.
At the same time, MJI has been applying its know-how, heritage and values in the creation of festivals around the world for more than 50 years. São Paulo, Detroit, Atlanta, Singapore, Monaco, Tokyo and now Rio de Janeiro, Suzhou and Miami have all hosted one or more editions of the Montreux Jazz Festival. The latest, MJF Miami, welcomed artists like Jon Batiste, Daniela Mercury and Daryl Hall at the beginning of March.
The Montreux Years
In the spring of 2021, the Montreux Jazz Festival and BMG launched a series of albums called “The Montreux Years”, from the extensive audiovisual collection of Claude Nobs (Montreux Sounds), the founder of the Festival. Available in all formats (vinyl, CD, digital), these albums compile the best moments of an artist’s concerts in Montreux. The mastering, done by Tony Cousins (Adele, Massive Attack, John Williams) at London’s famed Metropolis Studios, captures the original sound of these performances. Concerts by Nina Simone, Etta James, Muddy Waters, Marianne Faithfull, Chick Corea, Paco de Lucia and Dr. John are already part of the series, which grows every year.
In addition to this collection, the Festival has always been an opportunity for artists to produce live albums of exceptional quality. The Live at Montreux Jazz Festival albums have won several Grammy Awards and even helped write a few lines in music history. The very first, Bill Evans‘ 1968 film, won a Grammy the following year, while Les McCann and Eddie Harris‘ Swiss Movement broke sales records. Almost 60 years later, artists such as The Smile, Motörhead, Cory Wong and Emilie Zoé continue to choose Montreux for a live album.
The Posters
Since 1967, the Festival has entrusted the creation of its official poster to international artists. Keith Haring produced a trio of posters in 1983, then teamed up with Andy Warhol for another in 1986. David Bowie took a turn in 1995, and more recent offerings have come from Yoann Lemoine (Woodkid), Malika Favre, and Christian Marclay.
All posters from 1967 to 2024
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