Once again, from July 2 to 17, the Festival beat all previous records by attracting over 220,000 visitors to its main concert halls, lakeside Off-Festival, Montreux Jazz Café, musical cruises, acoustic concerts and workshops over the 16-day period. The variegated poster was designed by Brazilian artist Romero Britto. Staying true to its reputation, the Auditorium Stravinski welcomed, amongst this year's many highlights, saxophonist Charles Lloyd, vocalist Rachelle Ferrell, a moving tribute to bluesman Jimmy Rogers, R.E.M.'s electrifying performance, B.B. King's 50 years in music, guitarist Pat Metheny, saxophonist David Sanborn and pianist Herbie Hancock (all on the same evening, performing with their bands), George Duke's spontaneity, James Taylor's sensitivity, singer Noa's charm and Alanis Morissette's aura. While continuing in last year's exploration of new musical tendencies, the Miles Davis Hall also extended its arms to world music. The musical voyage and fusion began in Jamaica with a great reggae night; it continued with Celtic culture, African spontaneity, Greek music, the mysteries of Lapland, Indian percussion, as well as Northern African and Turkish traditional sonorities. But may none of this overshadow jazz, which remained omnipresent throughout the event, namely on three nights hosted by the music labels TCB, Warner Jazz and ACT. One of this edition's major innovations was a jazz piano solo competition where Swiss musician Léo Tardin won first prize.