ICYMI: ‘The Montreux Years’ Releases

(In Case You Missed It)

As audiophiles we’re often bombarded with ‘new’ reissue series, like the terrific Music Matters and Tone Poet Blue Note releases. Less frequently, a trove of unreleased material comes out – as with today’s subject matter. The Montreux Jazz Festival has been running annually in Switzerland for over fifty years, and founder Claude Nobs’ Foundation has more than 5,000 recordings in their vault. Of course, various Montreux recordings have come out over the decades: the relatively small number reflect the considerable licensing and contractual headaches involved.

Now, in collaboration with BMG, the Festival itself is beginning to release some new, or at least rarely-heard, performances by some of its most prolific artists. These are being packaged as compilations, and will be distributed on CD, Vinyl, and streaming*, under the moniker The Montreux Years. There are already five sets out as of now:

*it appears that at least the 2021 releases have been mastered using MQA, by Tony Cousins at Metropolis Studios in London. The John McLaughlin set was released Mar.2022 and I don’t see it in Tidal (Canada) as of yet.

How on earth did we miss this?? The effort seems to have a rather modest publicity machine behind it, at least here in North America. I became aware of it after reading a post on PS Audio’s excellent blog site.

Anyhow, this is definitely an interesting series for music lovers. I’ve been listening to Etta James on Tidal, as well as the notoriously “difficult” Nina Simone, who apparently had quite a stormy relationship with Mr. Nobs himself. Some truly great performances here.

Take this for example:

Punchy sound quality, too!

Between 1967 and 2017, these are the artists that have appeared at Montreux the most:

27 times

• Herbie Hancock (1979, 1981, 1983, 1986–1994, 1996–1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008–2012, 2014, 2015)

21 times

• B.B. King (1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1989–1991, 1993, 1995, 1997–2002, 2004–2006, 2009, 2011)

18 times

• George Duke (1976, 1977, 1986–1989, 1991–1993, 1996–2001, 2005, 2006, 2009)
• John McLaughlin (1974, 1976–1978, 1981, 1984, 1987, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2009–2012, 2015)
• Van Morrison (1974, 1980, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1994–1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2012, 2014)

17 times

• Al Jarreau (1976, 1979–1981, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2015)

16 times

• George Benson (1986, 1988–1991, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015)

15 times

• David Sanborn (1981, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2009, 2011, 2015)

Source: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_performers_at_the_Montreux_Jazz_Festival

Other frequently-appearing names include Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Buddy Guy, and Stanley Clarke – among many others. In addition to jazz, the Festival has also seen breakout appearances by pop artists, from superstars like Elton John to emerging artists such as Tori Amos and Macy Gray. Even heavy rock acts like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Deep Purple have played there.

What’s your favourite Montreux performance, or artist (or story)? Who would you like to see upcoming in The Montreux Years series? Drop us a message in the comments below.

Thanks for stopping by WallofSound.ca ,

Noam