SWITZERLAND: MONTREAUX JAZZ FESTIVAL ENTERS ITS SECOND WEEK WITH CHRIS REA, EARTH WIND AND FIRE, GORAN BREGOVIC AND BB KING AMONG THE PERFORMERS

Record ID: 496049

  • Title: SWITZERLAND: MONTREAUX JAZZ FESTIVAL ENTERS ITS SECOND WEEK WITH CHRIS REA, EARTH WIND AND FIRE, GORAN BREGOVIC AND BB KING AMONG THE PERFORMERS
  • Date: 8th July 1997
  • Summary: (JULY 8) (RTV) ASKED WHETHER THE BLUES WILL EVER DIE, BB KING SAYS "NEVER, AS LONG AS THERE ARE PEOPLE, PLACES, AND THINGS, BLUES WILL NEVER BE DEAD, IT'LL DIE AS WE KNOW IT, BUT I'LL NEVER BE DEAD ... BECAUSE YOUNG PEOPLE ALONG WITH OLD PEOPLE HAVE INTEGRATED IT NOW, HOPEFULLY. I DOUBT IF I LIVE TO SEE IT BUT ONE DAY IT WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO THE MAINSTREAM OF MUSIC, LIKE OTHER TYPES OF MUSIC. I THINK IT'LL BE ACCEPTED AND ENJOYED BY ALL" (ENGLISH) BB KING SIGNING AUTOGRAPH / POSING FOR PHOTOS
  • Embargoed: 23rd July 1997 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Reuters ID: LVAAECHK71VSE119RZWTWPI0U9HZ
  • Story Text: Performances from Herbie Hancock, B.B. King, Chris Rea and Earth, Wind and Fire were amongst the highlights of the Montreux Jazz Festival, now in its second week.

    Hancock, a composer and bandleader of legendary status, has played with some of the great names of jazz like Miles Davis, saxophonist Coleman Hawkins and trumpeter Donald Byrd.

    Whilst his pop and rock influences are as diverse as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince and Kurt Cobain, Hancock has not let himself be tempted by the electronic music technology that is widespread today.

    "My main instrument is the acoustic piano", Hancock said. "I can express myself better on the acoustic piano, it's a much more highly-developed, finer instrument than any of the synthesisers that I've ever played." Hancock added he only resorted to high technology when he needed to add specific colours or sounds that cannot be produced on the piano.

    The fans certainly seemed to approve when Hancock, a Montreux veteran, returned to the stage on Monday (July 14).

    An enthusiastic welcome also awaited B.B. King, who proved to an audience of 4,000 that the blues are alive and well. His first Montreux appearance dates back to 1969 and he has been a festival regular ever since.

    King's unique mix of traditional blues, jazz swing and pop has won him fans of all ages and nationality over the years. He explained that blues music reaches everybody.

    "Red, white, black, brown, yellow, rich, poor, we have the blues and as long as there is people, places and things, the blues will never die because young people as well as old have integrated it now," King told a news conference at the festival.

    The Yugoslavian ex-rocker Goran Bregovic and his Wedding and Funeral Band made his festival debut on Tuesday (July 8). Bregovic turned from rock to composing film music after the war, providing the soundtracks to renowned director Emir Kusturica's films "Underground" and "Arizona Dream".

    Asked about the origin of his band's name, Bregovic explained, "The Wedding and Funeral Band reflects the way people consider life in Serbia, where funerals are close to weddings. People eat, drink and somehow you get over the sorrow in a natural cycle." Rock 'n' roll has played an important part in Bregovic's life.

    During the war it was the only way of expressing his discontent without ending up in jail.

    "I started because of the war, because all of us in Sarajevo, from Yugoslavia, have lives divided, from before the war and after the war," Bregovic said. "I was maybe the biggest rock 'n' roll star in Yugoslavia ever and then the war started. I was in panic that I will die of no food so I started to work for movies as crazy. I probably did about five movies in the first year, publicities for perfumes, for margarine, oil and that's how I started. Finally now I'm comfortable because I can choose. I'm doing for the money what I would like to do for nothing." Bregovic's concert, entitled "The Time Of The Gypsies", featured several of his movie compositions, including "Underground".

    "I had luck to work with him (Kusturica), with probably one of the best directors of Europe. I was lucky because he used the music in a good way. He likes to put loud music. If you watch Kusturica's movies, he likes to see very loud music. It's a simple work and good music," Bregovic explained.

    Italo-Irish rock singer Chris Rea has also branched out into the world of film.

    Rea's passion for racing cars inspired his 1996 film "La Passione", which he described as "musical fantasy", based around a boy's dream of owning a Ferrari in Italy. The movie mixes his music and his love for the red Italian car.

    "The two are different passions but I do see similarities in the racing side. There are moments when you play slide guitar solo and you forget your name, who you are ...and there are moments when you are racing, when you go to the edge and the car seems to be flying. You seem to know every single thing of the car. You are the car... and you forget who you are. You know... it's very similar," Rea said.

    Rea's Montreux performance was a foretaste of a tour scheduled for later this year and another album, his 17th.

    "I'm really struggling with the exact flavour for the album.

    I'm looking for for a way of putting together the rythm of hip-hop, rap and slide guitar. I have seen it, I have heard it, but I haven't yet got it across. It's really driving me mad," he said.

    Earth Wind & Fire's festival performance was a resounding success. A crowd of more than four thousand packed the auditorium, singing along with songs old and new.

    The band has been around since the 1970s and is still going strong, with a new album "In The Name Of Love", released this week and a world tour in progress.

    The new album features the legendary combination of band founder Maurice White and Phillip Bayley and is produced by Maurice.

    Earth, Wind And Fire were one of the first bands to bring elements from American heritage into the pop mainstream. African rhythms mingle freely with intricate jazz, funk, gospel and rock influences.

    The distinctive Earth, Wind And Fire sound is built from rich layers of diverse intrumentation, from bombastic horn arrangements to a little African thumb piano known as a "Kalimba".

    The Montreux Festival finishes on July 17.
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