Since its inception in 1967, Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival has played host to hundreds of hugely influential figures from the world of not only jazz but virtually every other genre of music – from Marvin Gaye in 1980, to Johnny Cash in 1994, to Korn in 2004, to Wu-Tang Clan in 2007.
The festival was planning on revealing its 54th lineup last week, but have been forced to postpone the artist announcement due to coronavirus concerns. Currently, the festival is scheduled to take place from July 3-18th. In a post on Instagram, management have said they’re “closely assessing developments in conjunction with both the authorities and those involved in the organisation of the event,” and that the team is “continuing its work, in hope and humility, to enable this year’s Festival to happen under the best possible conditions.”⠀
In the meantime, however, Montreux Jazz Festival have opened up the archives and made over 50 festival concerts available to stream for free over the platform Stingray Qello for 30 days.
Artists whose sets you can stream include James Brown, Ray Charles, Wu-Tang Clan, Johnny Cash, Nina Simone, Mavin Gaye, Deep Purple, Lou Reed, Carlos Santana and many, many more.
“During this period, Montreux Jazz Festival would like to bring a little magic into your home,” say festival organisers. “We hope that these moments of music and emotion will enhance your daily life.”
Sign up here with the code FREEMJF1M, then browse the full list of concerts for yourself here.
