Photo above taken on the Jazz Boat – a regular event at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The boat cruises around Lac Léman with live bands that play on board for music lovers.
Late last night, the sad news came through here in Switzerland that Claude Nobs, founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival had passed away at the age of 76 after suffering a cross country skiing fall during the Christmas holidays. You can read the statement from the festival’s own website here
There is an interesting interview with Mr Nobs here on World Radio Switzerland broadcast in April 2011. You can hear how the festival first began, how he got the name “Funky Claude” in the famous Deep Purple – “Smoke on the Water” track and how he introduced Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull, to Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones at his chalet, high in the hills above Montreux.
In this video link here, you can see inside the chalet where he entertained the stars that performed at the festival each year. You also can see Mr Nob’s vast record collection, model train collection, and some of the instruments that were played by famous musicians in jam sessions at chalet. The video is in French and was broadcast on June 2012.