From 1 to July 16, 2011

Friday July 1st, the 45th Montreux Jazz Festival is launched. On this occasion, the Auditorium Stravinski welcomes Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin for a unique concert. This concert was an opportunity for both musicians to celebrate, a little early, the 40th anniversary of their album "Love, Devotion, Surrender" which was released in 1973. For nearly two hours, Santana and McLaughlin revisited this album in a festive mood. Meanwhile Jimmy Cliff, the reggae legend, is on stage in the Miles Davis Hall.
The next day the King of the Blues reigned as monarch at the Miles Davis Hall.  At age 85, he is still light on his feet, B.B. King is as alive as the music he plays, and sings the blues with relentless passion. This year, B.B. King played at the Montreux Jazz Festival for the 20th time. Meanwhile Santana revisits his hits in the Stravinsky to the delight of all his numerous fans.
Sunday, July 3 an impressive number of artists shared the stage with BB King, like Santana, McLaughlin, Derek Trucks, Shemekia Copeland, Robert Randolph, Susan Tedeschi etc. for an ever lasting evening.

July 4, the Auditorium Stravinski was filled with a mixture of genre. Jazz, funk, gospel, pop and blues. Lee Ritenour, jazz guitarist well versed in various musical styles was accompanied by Dave Grusin, among others. Later it was renowned interpreter of 'Give me the Night " George Benson who was also featured on the first Monday of the festival as was Robert Randolph and the Family Band. The next day was the "Gala Night" with George Benson, Randy Crawford, Dave Grusin, Dr. John, Lee Ritenour, David Sanborn and Leon Russell and a solid rhythm section that included Joe Sample, among others. Wednesday July 6th Ricky Martin, handsome Latin Lover, who has lived his entire life by the desire of others is in front of his fans. Ricky is often off stage, and must send dancers on dressed in fishnet to fill up the time while he changes his clothing. At the same time there was a night fever at the Miles Davis Hall, a phenomenal musician coming from New Orleans. Trombone Shorty. He is only 25. He was born Troy Andrews. Before he even walked, he blew in a copper trombone. The next day it's Andreas Vollenweider a pioneer in music and a composer. He is one of the most successful instrumentalists in the world, and his music is unique. His trademark, the electro-acoustic harp, which he designed himself and continually refines, makes it incomparable. He made his first appearance at the Montreux Jazz exactly 30 years ago.

July 8, Ziggy Marley, son of reggae legend Bob Marley is on stage, then Youssou Ndour who, since the 80's, is at the top of the Afro-pop charts. He keeps his status as a legitimate national star and he never considered that living in Dakar would be an obstacle to conquer the world.

Brazilian Night Saturday, July 9 with Maria Rita (daughter of Elis Regina), Ana Carolina and Maria Gadu. July 10, Natalie Cole, daughter of Nat King Cole, captivates the audience with her R & B, jazz or soul songs in the Miles Davis Hall. Sting was the star of this 45th edition. All tickets were sold out a few hours after the announcement of his gig. The British singer performed on July 11 as part of his world tour "Symphonicity". He was accompanied by an orchestra led by Sarah Hicks. The former leader of Police, who had come for the last time in our town in 2006, performed several of his hits to the delight of a packed house. Meanwhile Erik Truffaz and his quartet have sprinkled the Miles Davis Hall with a halo of music. He has shared the stage with Sophie Hunger and Sly Johnson. During one and a half hour, Erik Truffaz has rocked, with his trumpet, all music lovers, going to some extremes of sounds. A magical evening.

Asa a singer from Nigeria opens the evening Tuesday, July 12 for Seal who returns to Montreux for the 4th time with his register of soul, pop or rock music for the biggest pleasure of his fans. Meanwhile at the Miles Davis Hall, Return to Forever has a dream line up! For four decades, three men: the pianist Chick Corea, bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White push the "jazz-rock fusion" boundary more than any other musicians redefining the genre. Each alone is a force of nature, and together they have become a legend: Return to Forever, a group of both popular and legendary and probably the most successful groups of all electric jazz-fusion. They were accompanied by Jean-Luc Ponty and Frank Gambale.

July 13, a fabulous tribute to Miles Davis. Under the leadership of bassist Marcus Miller, just Imperial, who invited pianist Herbie Hancock and saxophonist Wayne Shorter on stage and offered with trumpeter Sean Jones and drummer Sean Rickman a very effective “cream of jazz”. At the first rehearsal for the preparation of this tribute, the musicians have only discussed, telling what was their relationship with Miles and what he represented to them. Do not just play Miles titles - he would have hated that - but playing like we were in front of a film of his life. Do not look back - Miles would also have hated this - but move forward, look to the future, as did the trumpet. The spirit of Miles Davis hung throughout the Stravinsky. Just like the music of the artist, sometimes difficult to grasp which brought the audience on a journey through the history of jazz.

July 14 was the night for composer and pop icon Paul Simon. He introduced eight musicians on stage. American singer Paul Simon is known for his collaboration with Arthur Garfunkel as a member of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, folk-influenced they recorded several important albums between 1964 and 1970. Chiseled melodies and some nice highlights were part of this evening in a packed full Stravinski Hall.

No need to introduce Liza Minelli, the famous singer, dancer and Hollywood actress. She was honored to get on the stage of the Miles Davis Hall for an unforgettable evening on July 15! And All That Jazz!

To close the 45th edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival, The Auditorium Stravinski invited the British group considered as the founding fathers of hard rock, Deep Purple. This is one of the groups that entered the history of the Montreux Jazz Festival. They made a come back this year for the sixth time. On this occasion, they were surrounded by a symphony orchestra to revisit their greatest hits.

We are sorry, but it is impossible to mention all the musicians who performed this year in our report and we invite you to visit the Montreux Jazz Festival website if you want to see the complete programme.

And least but not last : Thank you Claude Nobs for this fabulous 45th edition and see you next year!