The autumn residency of the Montreux Jazz Artists Foundation once again brought together young talents, audiences, and mentors in a spirit of sharing, curiosity, and creativity. Coming from different backgrounds, cultures, and musical styles, everyone reminded us over these four days that music is a universal language.
Organized for the 7th consecutive year, the Residency allowed eight young bands to exchange ideas and learn from inspiring mentors with diverse backgrounds. The evenings, open to all, drew an enthusiastic crowd that turned out in large numbers to applaud the showcases and discover emerging talent. As for the workshops, they often turned into prestigious jam sessions: the mentors, who were meeting for the very first time, revealed an immediate chemistry.
I have never experienced something like this before. What the Montreux Jazz Artists Foundation is doing is amazing. They are an example for all the foundations in the world. Giving opportunity to the young generation to meet other artists and the generation before them, exchanging for four days, playing together, learning… It’s a different school, that’s cool. You cannot get it with money. It’s the kind of opportunity you can only get through the love.
– Fatoumata Diawara
It’s been amazing doing this residency and to see the people coming from all different types of musical backgrounds on this programme. You’ve got people that are jazz-based, producers, heavily into afrobeats or reggae… I think that is what makes it really flourish.
– Camilla George
Honestly, words can’t even describe how grateful and blessed I feel. The amount of knowledge I’ve been able to acquire from these few days of being here is amazing. The mentors were great, they were constantly pushing us outside of our comfort zone. They never wanted us to stay in one box. That’s exactly what it’s meant to be.
– DVYN