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The European Jazz Festivals
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The monster of the European Jazz Fest circuit is Montreux, Switzerland. Covering Montreux is an exercise in triage, with twelve live stages working from midday into the night for two consecutive weeks. It's also very hot in July, with only air-conditioned spaces or a light breeze from the lake for respite. The Press Office is organised; the press workroom less so. It is decorated with the odd used coffee cup, newspapers, press releases and daily information from the efficient press office. Set lists and spellings, start times and run times.
Montreux is not all jazz. Once Elton John appeared, a special stage was built for him at the local football stadium. Reuters arrived and sent copy to the New York Times. Copies of the piece appeared everywhere around the festival, like pages torn from a book. In earlier years, Miles Davis played here. A statue on the lakeside commemorates his visits.
Montreux is not all avant-garde music. One year, it was a pleasure to hear Joan Baez with a backing singer. It is easy to pick out known names, but then there is a danger of missing the next big thing.
Sometimes there are press seats at performances; sometimes there is a corralled standing area in the back. The decision rests with the front desk in the press room, so it's wise to give them chocolate early in the festival. It's Switzerland; they all eat chocolate, if it's good quality.
The avant-garde has a therapeutic effect on musicians at times. It encourages young musicians as they find their way. However, the people who choose the invited musicians are experienced and wise; the programme is balanced. They cover all genres, so inevitably everyone can find things they like and things they don't like. The last hundred years have made jazz a broad church.
If Montreux is the monster, then the small town of Marciac in Gers, Southwest France is the miracle. For many years, their international ambassador has been Wynton Marsalis, bringing a wealth of music, experience, contacts and youthful musicians to this outlying town, away from international airports.
Every year, Marciac builds a huge tent with a seated capacity of 6,000 on the local rugby field, making space for vendors and facilities. One year, Sting opened the festival before the seats were placed, and 11,000 people stood to enjoy the performance. Local people are completely invested in Marciac. Even those locals who have moved away for work or family return every year to help. It's their annual vacation, and they are proud that the luminaries of jazz visit and stay in their home town.
The press office is in an historic building above the Tourist office in the Main Square. There is a long balcony overlooking the square. The square is covered in restaurant and bar tables with parasols and a large outdoor stage where jazz is played at lunch and through the afternoon. The press office is efficient, giving performance details from the previous day, set lists, musician names correctly spelt, and details of activities and locations throughout the current day. They also produce a daily background sheet with some exclusive interviews given to them by musicians who don't want to do press calls. In sum, it's a professional press office, and they make good coffee.
The Gers region in Southwest France does not follow Mediterranean cuisine. The people of Gers like duck, and the region is a big producer. Duck fat is a basic ingredient, and there are always local dishes in the restaurants or al fresco in the town square.
The avant-garde element of music in Marciac is cloistered in a small modern theatre space, l'Astrada, which is air-conditioned and spritzed with a light water fog. That alone is worth going to hear sound checks during the heat of the day.
Marciac is the last stop on the European circuit, and the place to catch up with any artist missed along the way. During the festival, hotel space is at a premium, but there are ways around that. When he was 89 years old, Ahmad Jamal played Marciac, a testimony to the special friendships built in this place between musicians and the Mayor of Marciac.
In between Montreux and Marciac are Nice and Juan-les-Pins, and a plethora of other festivals like Samois-sur-Seine, near Paris. Samois is a specialist festival for Django manouche aficionados. It's celebrated in a campsite along the Seine. There is no press office, but there are organisers to guide the way.
Nice divides a seafront park in two, with one stage for jazz and the other for Rock, gospel, and popular bands. The festival is run by the Mayor of Nice and organised by TSF Jazz in Paris, who also organise festivals at Fontainebleau, and the daily content at Duc des Lombards in central Paris near the Louvre. TSF Jazz is the acronym for Transmission Sans Fils, or Wireless Jazz. They are a French national jazz radio station. The Press Office in Nice is al fresco with plenty of information, assistance and daily running sheets, including promotional events.
Juan-les-Pins is a wealthy town on the Côte d'Azur and often attracts some of the best musicians on tour. The audience looks through the stage at the blue sea. Their press office is an enclosed green area with a bar to meet and talk with the press officers, who are patient and helpful. With only one stage plus a pre-performance stage in a local park, their volume is smaller, but the quality is high.
That's just a few of the Jazz Festivals, large and small, concentrating on those who invite the biggest and best names in the business. The European tour is work, but it is the way to cover the majority of the top musicians touring today and hearing them without having to chase around a hundred clubs and theatres for months each year in Europe and America.
Posted to Big World with Martin McFie IN THE All About Jazz GROUP
Read more posts by Martin McFie
Read more France related posts
Montreux is not all jazz. Once Elton John appeared, a special stage was built for him at the local football stadium. Reuters arrived and sent copy to the New York Times. Copies of the piece appeared everywhere around the festival, like pages torn from a book. In earlier years, Miles Davis played here. A statue on the lakeside commemorates his visits.
Montreux is not all avant-garde music. One year, it was a pleasure to hear Joan Baez with a backing singer. It is easy to pick out known names, but then there is a danger of missing the next big thing.
Sometimes there are press seats at performances; sometimes there is a corralled standing area in the back. The decision rests with the front desk in the press room, so it's wise to give them chocolate early in the festival. It's Switzerland; they all eat chocolate, if it's good quality.
The avant-garde has a therapeutic effect on musicians at times. It encourages young musicians as they find their way. However, the people who choose the invited musicians are experienced and wise; the programme is balanced. They cover all genres, so inevitably everyone can find things they like and things they don't like. The last hundred years have made jazz a broad church.
If Montreux is the monster, then the small town of Marciac in Gers, Southwest France is the miracle. For many years, their international ambassador has been Wynton Marsalis, bringing a wealth of music, experience, contacts and youthful musicians to this outlying town, away from international airports.
Every year, Marciac builds a huge tent with a seated capacity of 6,000 on the local rugby field, making space for vendors and facilities. One year, Sting opened the festival before the seats were placed, and 11,000 people stood to enjoy the performance. Local people are completely invested in Marciac. Even those locals who have moved away for work or family return every year to help. It's their annual vacation, and they are proud that the luminaries of jazz visit and stay in their home town.
The press office is in an historic building above the Tourist office in the Main Square. There is a long balcony overlooking the square. The square is covered in restaurant and bar tables with parasols and a large outdoor stage where jazz is played at lunch and through the afternoon. The press office is efficient, giving performance details from the previous day, set lists, musician names correctly spelt, and details of activities and locations throughout the current day. They also produce a daily background sheet with some exclusive interviews given to them by musicians who don't want to do press calls. In sum, it's a professional press office, and they make good coffee.
The Gers region in Southwest France does not follow Mediterranean cuisine. The people of Gers like duck, and the region is a big producer. Duck fat is a basic ingredient, and there are always local dishes in the restaurants or al fresco in the town square.
The avant-garde element of music in Marciac is cloistered in a small modern theatre space, l'Astrada, which is air-conditioned and spritzed with a light water fog. That alone is worth going to hear sound checks during the heat of the day.
Marciac is the last stop on the European circuit, and the place to catch up with any artist missed along the way. During the festival, hotel space is at a premium, but there are ways around that. When he was 89 years old, Ahmad Jamal played Marciac, a testimony to the special friendships built in this place between musicians and the Mayor of Marciac.
In between Montreux and Marciac are Nice and Juan-les-Pins, and a plethora of other festivals like Samois-sur-Seine, near Paris. Samois is a specialist festival for Django manouche aficionados. It's celebrated in a campsite along the Seine. There is no press office, but there are organisers to guide the way.
Nice divides a seafront park in two, with one stage for jazz and the other for Rock, gospel, and popular bands. The festival is run by the Mayor of Nice and organised by TSF Jazz in Paris, who also organise festivals at Fontainebleau, and the daily content at Duc des Lombards in central Paris near the Louvre. TSF Jazz is the acronym for Transmission Sans Fils, or Wireless Jazz. They are a French national jazz radio station. The Press Office in Nice is al fresco with plenty of information, assistance and daily running sheets, including promotional events.
Juan-les-Pins is a wealthy town on the Côte d'Azur and often attracts some of the best musicians on tour. The audience looks through the stage at the blue sea. Their press office is an enclosed green area with a bar to meet and talk with the press officers, who are patient and helpful. With only one stage plus a pre-performance stage in a local park, their volume is smaller, but the quality is high.
That's just a few of the Jazz Festivals, large and small, concentrating on those who invite the biggest and best names in the business. The European tour is work, but it is the way to cover the majority of the top musicians touring today and hearing them without having to chase around a hundred clubs and theatres for months each year in Europe and America.
Posted to Big World with Martin McFie IN THE All About Jazz GROUP
Read more posts by Martin McFie
Read more France related posts
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