BMG Films, Beyond TNC, Radio Télévision Suisse and Montreux Sounds present:
Documentary mini-series on the extraordinary story of Claude Nobs and the Montreux Jazz Festival
Claude Nobs Archives © Claude Nobs Foundation
The documentary mini-series They all came out to Montreux retraces the incredible story of Claude Nobs and his now legendary event, the Montreux Jazz Festival. Directed by British filmmaker Oliver Murray, produced by BMG and Beyond TNC, it features three one-hour episodes and had its world premiere on 20 March 2022 on Swiss National TV, after which it will be made available online at PlaySuisse and distributed abroad. This international co-production is mostly based on previously unseen footage from the audiovisual archives of Montreux Sounds, Radio Télévision Suisse and the Montreux Jazz Festival Foundation. The archives have recently been the subject of a new agreement designed to extend the use of this unique heritage around the world.
With over 70 performances and testimonials from: David Bowie, Ray Charles, Elvis Costello, Carl Craig, Miles Davis, Deep Purple, Aretha Franklin, Gilberto Gil, Buddy Guy, Herbie Hancock, Alicia Keys, Questlove, Quincy Jones, John Mclaughlin, Marcus Miller, Prince, Rag'n'Bone Man, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, Nina Simone, Sting, Talking Heads, Shania Twain, Van Morrison, Jack White...
Three one-hour episodes, more than 40 testimonies, 30 concert performances and a variety of previously unseen images: never before has a documentary of this magnitude been made on the history of Claude Nobs and the Montreux Jazz Festival. British director Oliver Murray and the production teams faced a major challenge in making this series during the covid crisis: interviews with artists and relatives of Claude Nobs were conducted remotely around the world, while production was managed between Switzerland, London, Paris and Sydney.
“I GOT TO KNOW MONTREUX THANKS TO THE BASS PLAYER OF THE ROLLING STONES”
They all came out to Montreux is the third documentary by British director Oliver Murray, who has previously made films about Ronnie Scott, founder of the famous London jazz club, and Bill Wyman, bassist of the Rolling Stones. It was while working with Wyman that Oliver Murray first heard the name Montreux: "Bill Wyman told me that the greatest moment of his career was playing the Montreux Jazz Festival with his heroes Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy. That's how I discovered the amazing extent of the Montreux audiovisual archives.” An exclusive interview with another Rolling Stone, Keith Richards, is included in the series.
A TOTAL IMMERSION IN THE FESTIVAL'S AUDIOVISUAL ARCHIVES
By immersing the audience in the Festival's exceptional archives, They all came out to Montreux offers a breath-taking panorama of half a century of music history. In total, more than thirty concert excerpts, from the 1960s to the present day, are included in the documentary. These dazzling musical moments illustrate the incredible diversity of genres welcomed at Montreux in a pluralistic and non-dogmatic vision of jazz in the broadest sense.
Although the artists occupy a prominent place in the series, the main protagonist of this incredible story is obviously Claude Nobs, nicknamed Funky Claude by Deep Purple. We discover how he managed to transform a small Swiss town into an unmissable live music event, out of love for his region and for jazz. The documentary tells the story of Claude's journey from his childhood and the challenges he had to face in a society often hostile to his projects and his personality, considered too different at the time.
Narrated by a host of artists, relatives and sometimes by Claude himself, the series paints a portrait of an extraordinary and visionary character. His unfailing persistence, free spirit, flamboyant passion, sense of welcome and taste for innovation will continue to inspire the Festival teams, artists and music lovers throughout the world for many years to come.
A NEW AGREEMENT TO PRESERVE THE USE OF THESE ARCHIVES
This documentary mini-series would never have seen the light of day without the vision and dedication of Claude Nobs, who meticulously recorded all the Montreux Jazz Festival concerts from the late 1960s.
It is also - and above all - the result of the titanic work of preserving and digitising the archives, carried out by Thierry Amsallem, president of the Claude Nobs Foundation, and by the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). This audiovisual archive of over 11,000 hours of live music has been inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register since 2013. This entry on the world heritage list was also possible thanks to the quality of the recordings made by the sound engineers and cameramen of Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), who are inseparable from the history of the Festival. For example, Pierre Grandjean, whose recordings of concerts by Etta James, Nina Simone or the famous Swiss Movement are unanimously praised by artists. As a partner and living memory of the Festival, RTS, together with Montreux Sounds (a company founded by Claude Nobs and chaired by Thierry Amsallem), is co-producer of the sound and image archives for the period 1967 to 1986.
In order to continue the distribution of these exceptional archives throughout the world, an agreement was recently signed between Montreux Sounds and RTS.