All language subtitles for TO MONTREUX - 3 - Dodumentary [2023]

Just the ride up to the chalet
was an adventure.

You'd start winding up the little
mountain roads, and then next thing

you know the view's just getting
better and better.

When you finally arrived, you know,
it was like heaven.

strong language

The afternoon before your concert,
he would invite you up

to his chalet, you know,
and this day became legendary.

We'd go downstairs to where
the record archives are,

and he has his big bank vault kind
of things that move back and forth.

He was able to tell those
personal stories.

Claude's catalogue of videos
and recordings

had to be one of the greatest
treasures of all time.

The great thing is the
open-mindedness all the way to this

generation now, the new waves and
the punk rock, and all these

different genres that have happened
in the last 20 years

that Claude was also open to.
Incredible.

Thanks to Claude, we have these
remarkable archives. Invaluable.

That is a gift,
it is a gift to all of us.

The archive represents a passage
of musical culture,

some of which doesn't exist
any more.

So it only exists on that tape.

The legacy is in the performances.

By having the audio and video
of the concert,

we can share it with the world.

The toughest one was Marvin Gaye,
because he said,

"I never did live television,
I will never do one."

So, finally, I showed him some
earlier shows from Montreux,

from Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin,
and he said,

"Wow, this is a great way of
shooting the concert,"

and he signed the contract.

I've been really tryin', baby

Tryin' to hold back this feeling
for so long

And if you feel like I feel, baby

Then, come on

Oh! Come on

Woo

Let's get it on

Ow! Ooh

Let's get it on

Let's love, baby

Let's get it on

Sugar

Let's get it on

Oh, baby

Ooh ooh ooh

We're all sensitive people

With so much to give

Understand me, sugar

Ooh ooh

Since we've got to be here

Let's live

I love you

Oh

There's nothing wrong with me

Loving you

Baby, no, no, no

And giving yourself to me can
never be wrong

If the love is true

Oh, baby

Ooh ooh ooh

I know you are what I've been
dreamin' of

Don't you, baby?

Ooh ooh ooh

My whole body wants that
feeling of love

Let me love you
Let me love you

Let me love you
I ain't gonna worry

I ain't gonna push
Let me love you

I won't push you, bab

Ooh!

Come on, come on, come on,
come on, come on, darling

Stop beatin' round the bush...

Claude Nobs had this very, very<
interesting vision from day one

saying that those artists,
they are the Picassos,

they are the Shakespeares
of music,

and it's got to be preserved
for generations to come.

So, from day one of the festival,

he wanted to tape, to record,

to film those artists,

to spread the word worldwide.

He wanted people to love this music
so much, because he knew,

he knew that he was living through a
special time in the history of art.

Just being on that stage
really connected you

with literally the history of jazz.

As an American, I could really
connect to my whole musical history

by being in Montreux.

This festival was so important
in terms of

illustrating the through-line.

200 years, 300 years' time from now,
or 1,000 years' time from now,

that'll still be somewhat of
a Holy Grail for musicians

and everyone that's
interested in music.

It's a staggering collection.

Staggering.

It's a strange thing, you know.
Music is the most ethereal art form.

You can't smell it, taste it,
see it.

You can hear it, but as soon as
you hear it, it's gone.

Somehow he's managed to defy that

and made it touchable and permanent.

One, two, three, four!

MUSIC: Rockit
by Herbie Hancock

We were lucky to be very close to
Sony, and Sony had developed

at the time
high-definition television.

Claude was saying, "You know,
you need better pictures

"than what you are showing.
You need live music."

And they agreed.

Claude was always a fan of
technology and a fan of media.

But I highly doubt that he
could plug in a computer

and get it rolling.

Thierry Amsallem began
working with Claude.

He became, really, the keeper
of the kingdom.

I met Claude in the '80s.

The first time I met him,
it made electricity, you know.

And then I left with him to Montreux
directly, with no toothbrush.

I spent my adult life with Claude

and, of course, all the musicians
around him.

I understood his message -
to share with an audience

and to preserve this memory.

He was loving music
and I was loving technology.

In '87, the first job was to build
the bunker, the archive.

I was able to buy from the Swiss TV
the entire archive.

And after that, with my partner,
we were able to keep all the tapes,

which otherwise would have
been just lost,

and so a huge part of the history
of music would be lost.

I came to a point...
it has to be digitalised.

THIERRY AMSALLEM: He understood
that I was able to bring

computer inside the story.

He was always trying to get
the best technology to record.

'68 was done in black and white,
we have a few glimpse of '68.

'69, we have Ella Fitzgerald
and Les McCann.

We have two major concerts well
protected in black and white.

'71, we started colour.

And I have all the important shows.

Aretha and Roberta,
and all those guys.

From that on, I have everything.

When I look back and start to go
into the archive,

there is still years I haven't seen.

I have to go back and see the tapes
and see all the surprises,

all the jam sessions, all the things
that I don't even remember.

Check it out!

Relax now
Check it out!

Funk it!
Just to see the look on their face

Funk 'em, just to see the look
on their face

Funk 'em! Just to see the look
on their face

Just to see the look
Yeah!

Funk 'em! Just to see
the look on their face

Funk 'em, just to see the look
on their face

Mother-funker, just to see
the look on their face

Everybody, everybody,
everybody say

Funk it!
Just to see the look on their face

Dancin' the night away
Mother-funker

Just to see the look on their face

Funk it! Just to see

ust to see the look on their face

Funk it!
Just to see the look on their face

Funk 'em!
Just to see the look on their face

Funk it, just to see the look
on their face

Everybody, I said funk it!
Just to see the look on their face

Just to see the look

Yeah!

Just to see the look on their face
Just to see the look on their face

Funk 'em! Just to see the look
on their face

Funk 'em, just to see the look
on their face

Huh!

Ain't it funky now?

Ye-e-e-eah!

Say it!

Y'all gonna say it. Come on!

A-a-a-a-a-ah!

Say it!... #

INDISTINCT CONVERSATION

BRASS BAND PLAYS

INDISTINCT CHATTER

Willie Dixon and Little Walter
and Elmore James,

all these guys had Chicago sewn up.

If you didn't play like Muddy
Waters, you couldn't get a job.

I remember it.Yeah, but you
changed it.Yeah, I changed it.

Because you got into rock and roll.
That's it. I changed it.

That was a big difference.

Scared the hell out of everybody.

I can't even explain how I feel
to be invited back.

Because if you've been here before
and never get invited back

there's something you didn't
do right.

I must have hit the right notes.

And I'm here.

So, I got to lay it on you.

Baby, don't you wanna go

Come on

Baby, don't you...

Wanna go

Yeah, sing it.

Goin' to that same old place

Sweet home Chicago

Four, five, six, seven!

Eight, nine, ten!

I can't love you if you
don't love me

You told me<

Yeah

I know you don't love me, woman

Cos I said, Lord,
you don't come tell your man

One and one is two, you know

Two and two is four

I can't get close to you
if you don't open that door

I said hey

Baby, don't you wanna go

Goin' to that...

Same old place

Sweet home Chicago...

Claude Nobs was fearless when he

his higher ambitions into some
tangible, physical realities.

Damn the rules.

It's the feeling that counts.

CLAUDE NOBS: Some would say, "How
can you say you change every year

"when you have Herbie Hancock
for the 33rd time?"

For the simple reason that -
if you check what he did -

every single year for
the past 33 years,

every time he's with new musician,
or different musician.

It's new tunes, new arrangement.

And it is a perfect way to
show the evolution

and what an artist can
deliver to the audience.

People if they come here,
they come to listen to music.

Here, with the walls and being in
a room, it gives you a closeness

to the artist, you see more what
he's up to,

and he has better contact also.

They have to get out of their
technical comfort zone

and reduce the show.

They cannot unpack six tracks.

They get something else for it.

We always had excellent crews,
and the artist will be happy.

That's the biggest challenge, yeah?

And they have to trust us -
and they do, fortunately.

The sun died

The sun died with my love

When I'm all gone...

Oh, it's just so beautiful
these songs.

I love all of them.

I wish I could play every
song like that.

I know...

Oh, it's so pretty.

She said, My son, I beg of you

I have a wish that must come true

The last thing you can do

For your mama...

Charles...

Please promise me that
you will stay

And take my place when I'm away

And give the children love
each day

I had to cry

What could I say?
What could I say?

I tried so hard to find a way

I prayed she would not see me cry

So much to say that
should be heard

But only time to say goodbye

To my mama

Lord, my mama, my mama...

Everything's all right

Everything's all right

Everything's all right, right

It's all right

Hey now

Everything's all right

Go tell

Everything's all right

Everything's all right

I know

It's all right, yeah.

Ray Charles!

Ray Charles!

One and only, Ray Charles!

I met Quincy through...

when he was producing Donna Summer.

Of course, he knew that I was doing
a festival,

that I had a bunch of people
that he was very close to.

And one day he called me and said,
"I am in Moscow.

"I just finished the last album
with Michael Jackson.

"I want to come to Montreux to
one of those sparkling lakes

"to get healthy, etc."

So, I go pick him up at the airport,
we go to the hotel.

And I had in his room a complete
set of video cassettes

of the previous Jazz Festival,

and he checked all that the tapes,
from A to Z.

Then he came up with some comments
and he said, you know,

"One day, if you need me,
I'd love to work with you."

We start in 1991
a three year collaboration.

Claude's dream was to work
with Quincy Jones,

and when he said yes, I mean,

well, you had to fetch him
from the moon, you know.

Quincy was like the perfect twin
for him to have, in a way.

Their new ideas were a match.

Their willingness to support
whatever might sound a little

far-fetched or a little crazy to
other people, they would go for it.

They just had a love for each other.

When we were co-produced by
Quincy Jones in '91, '92 and '93,

Quincy was involved in rap,
R&B and...<

I mean, being co-produced by Quincy
put the whole story

on another level.

The first year, I went to see
Quincy at his home, California.

And he was co-producing the
festival, so he had a big table<

with a little piece of paper,
day by day, "July 1, 2, 3," etc,

with names. And I look on the table
and I see, "Sting,

"BB King, Miles Davis,"
and so on and so on,

and I said, "Oh, it's very nice."

He said, "Yeah, yeah, that's
the programme.

"I did the programme.
Now you put it together."

One of the big highlights was
the concert with Miles Davis

doing the Gil Evans arrangement,

that he refused to for many,
many years to do,

because he said "I don't want
to do the old stuff.

"I want to play my new stuff."

And Quincy said,
"We have to get Miles to do it."

So, we went to see Miles
in New York.

We have his meeting in his house.

So, Miles said to Quincy, "It's
going to be incredibly expensive!"

And Quincy said,
"Why? Everything is written.

"Every note is written down."

And Miles said, "Yeah, that's why!

"I have to play every note!"

This one's a high shoulder.

You need me for
your clothes, Claude?

Uh... No, I think it's
nearly together.

And I think there is a...

MILES DAVIS: Enough, Claude.
Come on, now.

You make me feel bad.

No, but I feel good I can share it.
I have too many.

But it's nice. Different
kind of cut.

A great shoulder.

This is really nice. Really nice.

I mean, if I was on the corner
and you were a lady,

would you stop?

You would? I would, I would.

MUSIC: Summertime
by Miles Davis and Quincy Jones

Quincy Jones comes and bring tons of
new artists that nobody knew.

New sounds.

The spectrum of Quincy, from
Ella Fitzgerald to Michael Jackson

and hip-hop and all this,
it's so extraordinary.

We lost money on all
of these things.

But at the end, it gave a new wind
to the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Come on. Uh, uh, uh.

La di da di
Who likes to party?

Like Slick Rick, the ruler
I'm cooler than an ice brick

Got soul like an afro pick
With the black fist

And leave a crowd drippin'
like John the Baptist

It's the cause of that "Oh shit!"

The skits I kick flows
like catfish

And got many emcees
on the blacklist

Sharper than a cactus
Quick to bust gymnastic tactics

Roots is true to the rap shit

Holla to the scholarly
Street skats that follow me

Back to the Soul Shack with
packs of rap colonies

Max that, foreign objects
is mad abstract

Make Shadrach, Abednego
want to go like Meshach

Black Thought the nappy cat
A bookworm, shoe styles like sperm

Cool as Malcolm Little with
the conch a la perm burn

The herb sticks like wicks
and flips when I slap the hand

Of my mellow my man, Malik B

Here I go.

All a sudden, Sting called in and
that he wanted to do a special

acoustic project, but he could only
play a day that was two days before

the official opening
of the festival.

So we had to fill in these
other days, and somehow,

because of the Quincy project,

I think we have had 21 days
of festival.

Full power.

STING VOCALISES

Here we go.

Woo!

# Giant steps are what you take

Walking on the moon

I hope my leg don't break

< Walking on the moon

We could walk forever

Walking on the moon, yeah

We could live together

Walking on

Walking on the moon

Yeah!

Yeah<

Walking back from your house

Walking on the moon, yeah

Walking back from your house

Walking on the moon

My feet don't hardly touch
the ground

Walking on the moon, yeah...

The Quincy Jones years, they were
obviously very prestigious,

but they also put the Montreux Jazz
Festival in big financial trouble.

Spending much more money
than it was earning.

It led Claude to get back from
the red and into the black,

and he had to make some
huge changes.

The economy that goes with
the festival,

it went along with the times,

and the new site of the festival
at the Stravinski Hall

was very much part of that.

When it's that big, it's difficult
for one man to control everything.

To get the whole running,
you need people,

and you need a lot of people.

When I started in 1967, there were
two or three friends with me.

I was doing the cooking,
getting the people at the airport,

trying to fix the light,
the microphone.

Everything was going wrong,
everything was going late.

He was one of the top promoters
in Europe,

and the dream starts to lose
total reality.

He would never had accepted
the change.

I mean, he was very stubborn.

When he wanted something,
he didn't listen to anybody.

I mean, he started something which
he could not control at the end.

Sorry to tell, but this is also
partly fault of Claude Nobs.

He's part of that business.

I knew he was frustrated how
the music business was changing,

especially that human factor of
the music business that he was

fighting for, the link with
the artists, making great music.

Talking about what kind of concert
we can create,

which could be totally different
from all the other concerts.

He knew that the world was changing.

That was something very painful
for Claude.

That was his life.

Passion for the musician,
the love he has for the musician.

I always said, I worked 35 years
for a record company.

For half of it - in this
expression, "music business"

"music" was the important word.

And then "business" became
the important word.

And when lawyers came about, we had
some situation where I thought,

"Oh, thank God Claude isn't
there to see that."

It would have broken his heart.

He would not have understood it.

All these sectors had become
professional, like touring,

agencies, sponsoring.

Before, we just head to
the next music store,

"Do you have some drums that you can
loan us, and you get half a page

"in the programme in exchange?"
You know, it was that easy.

The evolution came that you needed
more people, all of a sudden.

Three, four!

She's got legs

She knows how to use them

She never begs

She knows how to choose them

She's holdin' leg

Wonder how to feel them

Would you get behind them

If you could only find them?

She's my baby

She's my baby

Yeah, it's all right

Oh, yeah...

The golden years changed when
the record companies misjudged

the influence of internet
and didn't get it.

They fought it, instead of using it.

So, that's where the payment
of the records stop to be

the main source of income
for the artists,

and it changed towards
the touring business.

And, of course, in order to make it
viable you have to have

a much heavier touring schedule.

It was not his style,
because he needed musicians

to have time to do special projects.

And, you know, to mobilise a whole
tour now is too costly.

They don't have the time.

They need to play nearly every day
in order to bring some money home.

Before an artist really has some
money on his bank account,

he has to pay so many people.

Agents and managers.

There's all these costs that
are being deducted,

and it's not that easy to make
a living being on tour.

Not everybody makes it, actually.

We limit ourselves to three bands
per evening, so they have more time,

and you have a fantastic
musical event again.

Hey, now now

Hey, now now

I didn't know what time it was

The lights were low

I leaned back on my radio

Some cat was layin' down
some rock and roll

Lotta soul, he said

Then the loud sound did
seem to fade

Came back like a slow voice
on a wave of phase

That weren't no DJ,
that was hazy cosmic jive

There's a starman waiting
in the sky

He'd like to come and meet us

But he thinks he'd blow our minds

There's a starman waiting
in the sky

He told us not to blow it

Cos he knows it's all worthwhile

He told me
let the children lose it

Let the children use it

Let all the children boogie...

Yeah, help me out.

Thank you. Yeah.

All right

OK

All right...

Now...

Y'all are helping me so well

that I need you to help me
one more thing.

Let me hear you say...

Night and day

Night and day

Yeah.

Night and day

Night and day

Sing.

Night and day, yeah

Night and day, yeah

Night and day

Cos you know the night-time
is the right time

To be with the one you love

You know the night-time
is the right time

To be with the one you love

Just me and my man

You know the night-time, oh!

Is the right time

00:34:38,680
Baby!<
Night and day

Baby!
Night and day

Baby!
Night and day

Baby!
Night and day

You know I love you
Night and day

I'm thinkin' of you
Night and day

Hold me tight
Night and day

All the through the night
Night and day

Cos you know the night-time

Oh, is the right time

To be in Switzerland

If you feel me, say yeah.

Yeah.

Switzerland!

Well, I just want to tell you
how excited and happy I am

to be here with you tonight.

So, I want to thank you for
having me at the Montreux,

because this is something that's
really historical to me,

and some of my favourite artists
of all time have played here,

and I'm very honoured to be playing
here as well with you tonight.

Thank you.

CLAUDE NOBS: Now, of course,
I have a great team with me,

mainly with Mathieu Jaton,
with secretary general.

He could take over any minute.

He knows music, he knows the people,
he loves them, he has a connection.

And he give me a free hand to do
a lot of crazy projects.

As an ex-cook,
I'm going to add on spices

and put a little bit more pepper,<
which is one band more,

and have this artist here,
and make it a big dinner.

We knew that the change of this
business were quite hard for Claude

and we had the impression that
he even made his way out

the best way he wanted.

Because he was always telling us,
I don't want to be in bad shape.

I just want to get out...
like that.

At the time, he was on the top
of the world.

We came home at midnight,
and he said to me,

"I'm going to walk the dogs. Come
with me. We do it by country ski."

And I said, "Claude, it's too late
for me. I need to sleep."

It happened in the night.

When I had the information on
December 23 that Claude

had an accident skiing in
the mountain, and he's in coma,

we understood quite early<
that it was very grave.<

Even getting out of his coma,
his shape will be very, very bad.

I saw this message from Mathieu,
"Please call me about Claude,"

and so I called him,
and he told me what had happened,

that he was in hospital
and not conscious.

Some agents who were friends
with Claude, well,<

he warned them that Claude had an
accident and it didn't look good.

Which was a shock to all of us.

I mean, how was it possible?

He was here yesterday.

That was a difficult time
for everybody.

We went to visit him every
two days in the intensive care.

We tried to talk to him,
wake him up,

have the dogs bark through
the telephone, put some music on.

Trying to see if something
would wake up,

but the prognosis was very bad,
the doctor said.

And then, yeah...

At the beginning of the year,
on January 20,

Thierry took the most difficult
decision that it was over.

Claude passed away.

It hurt. You know, I mean, when
you lose somebody you love, it's...

..there's always like a little hole
in your heart where that person

used to be. And they're still there,

but you don't get to see them
any more.

There's part of you that gets buried
with them when they go away,

and it's like that with Claude.

We lost wings, a big pair of wings.

Wings of aspiration and imagination.

We lost a big general that commanded
gently, with grace and humility.

And fun. I mean, this cat
was fun to be around.

He's an artist of another stature.

To me, he was Merlin, like Merlin.

I would have understand very clearly
that all his network will have said,

"OK, we loved Claude.
We love you all, guys.

"Thank you very much for the time
we had together, but that's over."

I would have understand that.
But it was not the case.

All these contacts, they all called
me and say, "Now Claude passed away,

"we have to help you continuing
Claude's legacy."

All of a sudden, I got a call
from Prince's agent,

"Would you be interested
in having Prince?"

And so I proposed, "Three dates here
are open. Do you want one or two?"

"Give me three."

It made this first festival without
Claude's physical presence

an extraordinary event.

MUSIC: Purple Rain
by Prince

I can't say that I knew
him well, but...

..in my room there were four books
of all the people that played

at Montreux Jazz Festival...

..and I think I recognised
every one.

So it must have something to do
with its founder,

the man who put this together

and kept it together all this time.

A lot of musicians look forward to
playing here - I know I did -

musicians you've seen tonight
on this stage.

I'll have a memory that I'll
never forget.

That's all I'm going to say
about that.

But I just have one more thing
I want to say, all right?

Ooh ooh ooh

Ooh ooh

Ooh

Ooh ooh

Ooh ooh ooh

Ooh ooh ooh ooh

Ooh ooh ooh

Oh

Ah ah

Ooh.

Love to Claude. Love to you
Thank you.

People always say, how can you trick
death and don't actually die?

You know? And I think
he tricked death.

Cos if you pay attention,
you can hear his voice all around,

you can see his attitude.

And that comes from when, you know,
you create something which

is infinite, and when it's not
about you, but it's about people.

They all come - different colour,
different ages,

different religions. Seems to work.

Try to find out how this can help.

Hoping for peace and love.

The festival should be something
joyful and bring people together.

A few years ago I had Claude
on my shoulder

I guess he went and joined
the angels

But Montreux Jazz Festival
live on

Cos you can't destroy
what he's created

Two years later

A few years ago

That was just a few years ago

When I rocked
the Montreux Jazz Festival<

That was just a few years ago

When I had Claude on my shoulders

That was just a few years ago

When we turned it up at
the Montreux Jazz Festival

That was just a few years ago

And what Claude has built
is hard to destroy

He's with the angels

I remember when we used to sit

In the government yard in Brooklyn

Oba-observing the hypocrites

As they were mingled with
the good people we meet

Good friends we've had

Good friends we've lost

Along the way

In this great future
you can't forget your past

So dry your tears I say

Sing along with me, Montreux

No woman, no cry

No...

No woman, no cry

Say, say, say, say

Hey, little sister

Don't shed no tears

No...

Everywhere you go, there's
a consciousness of Claude Nobs,

his consciousness is here.

You know, this wouldn't be what
it is without his vision,

without his heart.

I miss his heart.

He was always the abiding spirit
of the festival.

I don't think that will change.

I think he is still, and always
will be, the abiding spirit

of the Montreux Jazz Festival.

It's sad that, you know,
I'm not going to shake his hand

and give him a hug.

But he's all around. I can tell!

He was the father of this thing.

With Claude Nobs, we are missing
a great missionary for the cause.

What else can we do but pass it on,
man? You know, I mean,

that's what we do, and that's what
Claude did - he passed it on.

He lived his life for that festival.
His heart is there.

And it's beating!

Great, great, memories, man.

What we can do is try and take care
of his legacy like a baby.

So many good times.
So many beautiful memories.

And they never go away.

That's love.

It's a huge pressure to have
Claude's legacy in your hands.

Thierry has the other
part of the legacy.

I decided that this archive must be
an active archive.

Digitalisation is done now,

14 years later.

The end of my mission,
but the beginning of the next one -

to preserve it for thousands
of years.

It will be a resource for research,
culture and education.

This is my duty.

For the history of music,
it's definitely something unique

and, for me,
maybe the biggest reward

after doing the festival
for 42 years.

He saw Montreux blowing up,

and he went well beyond
that vision,

but that vision that he had is what
keeps Montreux alive today.

It's a special place for artists,
Montreux,

and they still believe in it.

Claude Nobs's legacy,
it's written in history.

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