‘Extraordinary story of legendary’ Montreux Jazz Festival to air on BBC

A three-part documentary about Switzerland’s legendary Montreux Jazz Festival is coming to BBC Four and iPlayer this month.

From director Oliver Murray, They All Came Out To Montreux will tell the “extraordinary story” of the world’s second-largest annual jazz festival and its celebrated founder, Claude Nobs.

With exclusive footage, audiovisual archives and “more than 40 testimonies, 30 concert performances and a variety of previously unseen images, this is the first documentary of this magnitude made on the history” of the Lake Geneva shoreline festival, according to a press release.

“The Montreux Jazz Festival draws 250,000 music lovers from all across the world, generating legendary stories and performances from its renowned stages.”

These are brought to life in the miniseries with over 70 featured performances and testimonials from iconic musicians, including David Bowie, Prince, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Alicia Keys, Questlove, Keith Richards, Talking Heads, Shania Twain, Van Morrison, Sting, Nina Simone and many others.

The project’s title takes “its name from the opening lyrics of Deep Purple’s classic track ‘Smoke On The Water’, which was written about the band’s experience at the festival,” the press release says.

“They All Come To Montreux is a wonderful testament to the story behind what I consider to be the ‘Rolls Royce of music festivals’, and how it came to be,” Quincy Jones, historical producer of the Montreux Jazz Festival, adds.

The Montreux Jazz Festival was established in 1967 by Nobs as a way “to shake up” the otherwise sleepy little Swiss town.

Nobs is regarded as a visionary who afforded musicians a safe environment to freely express their art, no matter their nationality, colour or creed. The festival played a pivotal role in providing a platform for Black American musicians to gain newfound respect in Europe.

As it grew, it started featuring a range of different musical genres from blues to rock and soul, booking hugely popular bands such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Santana.

Ahead of this year’s festival, which returns for its 57th year from Friday 30 June to Saturday 15 July, They All Come To Montreux will premiere on BBC Four and iPlayer on Friday 16 June at 10:15pm.

In the hour prior to its debut, BBC Four will air Nina Simone: Live at Montreux 1976 at 9pm, making the channel Montreux-themed for the night.

The Independent is the exclusive global news partner of Montreux Jazz Festival 2023.