A good year for Montreux Jazz, says director

This year’s Montreux Jazz festival was a big success, says festival director Mathieu Jaton, as the two-week event draws to an end.  “The weather was wonderful, and the House of Jazz – the novelty of 2018 – was a success, with some memorable concerts,” he said in an interview on Friday with the Swiss news agency.  Among the outstanding performances, he cited especially Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, saying that concert on Thursday was among his “Montreux top 10”.  The number of visitors to this 52nd edition was 240,000, up on last year but less than the 250,000 that came in 2016. Jaton says the World Cup football clearly had an effect. “On match nights, Montreux was quiet,” he remarked.   In a highly competitive festivals sector, Montreux Jazz will have to continue developing its values of creativity, musical freedom and consistent programming," Jaton told the news agency. He says a new generation of artists is coming up and that “we need to create new legends” as the big names of ...