The weekslong Swiss music celebration, Montreux Jazz Festival, revealed a typically diverse lineup of artists on Thursday for its 59th annual gathering, which will take place from July 4 – 19 in the titular city. Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts, Diana Ross, Benson Boone, Brandi Carlile, J Balvin, Noah Kahan, Lionel Richie, Santana, Pulp, Alanis Morissette, the Black Keys, Jamie XX, Beth Gibbons, Raye, Finneas, and Shaboozey, among several others, will all perform. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon CET. Full details are on the event’s website.
The fest will also feature several special sets. James Blake will do a “solo piano” set while the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band will perform with 91-year-old blues artist Bobby Rush. Chaka Khan will perform “A Celebration of 50 Years in Music,” as well as a Quincy Jones tribute, “To Quincy With Love,” which will feature as-yet-unannounced guests.
“I feel honored to be returning to open the Montreux Jazz Festival this year, joining so many world class artists,” Khan said in a statement, according to Billboard. “I’m equally proud to be bringing some special guests with me, to pay musical tribute to my friend Quincy Jones; one of the best friends that music and Montreux ever had.”
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Jones, who died last year, was a fixture of the Montreux Jazz Festival since 1991, when founder Claude Nobs became a co-producer for three years. He helped bring Miles Davis to the festival and, in the 2000s, helped bring artists including Khan, Phil Collins, Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock, and Mos Def, among others, to Montreux to perform. “Quincy Jones will forever mark the history of Montreux and the hearts of all those who had the chance to meet him there,” a tribute on the festival’s website says. “We will greatly miss his laughter, his wild stories, travel tales, zest for life, and generosity.”
The concerts will take place on the Lake Stage, referring to Lake Geneva, and a Casino Stage, which refers to the city’s outpost made famous in Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.”
