Eclectic summer line-up for Montreaux

Jack White, Nick Cave and Jamie Cullum join Massive Attack, pictured below, and punk survivor Iggy Pop at the 52nd Montreux Jazz Festival in July. Pharrell Williams returns to the famed stage with N.E.R.D., while veterans Van Morrison, Gilberto Gil and Deep Purple are also booked at the Swiss event from June 29 to July 14. “I’ve been waiting a long time to have Nick Cave in the Stravinski (Auditorium). His music is so in touch with the acoustics of that hall. His universe is fascinating, with softness, musicality,” festival director Mathieu Jaton told Reuters after announcing the line-up. Australian Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds perform on July 12. Snagging Jack White, who plays on July 10, is “very rare”, Jaton said. “There’s great anticipation since his last album.

It’s his first time solo in Montreux, he previously came with Dead Weather and The Raconteurs.”

Montreux programmers, whose annual budget is 28 million Swiss francs (Dh106m), like to pair up artists for unique shows. “The goal is to create an experience that puts artists together. That is our passion in the programming,” Jaton said. ”Nine Inch Nails has never been to Montreux before. What’s great again is this billing with Gary Numan and Nine Inch Nails, who have collaborated, they have mutual respect for each other’s music.” Van Morrison and Steve Winwood play back-to-back on July 11, while Young Fathers and Massive Attack play on July 2. Alice Cooper, Joe Perry and actor Johnny Depp team up as Hollywood Vampires on July 5. The Montreux Jazz Club is moving to the Petit Palais, to be known as House of Jazz, but still an intimate setting with small tables. “We’ll have 600 places, doubling our capacity. There was so much demand. Stanley Clarke, Brad Mehldau, Chick Corea, all the big jazz names will be there,” Jaton said. American Grammy-winning pianist Robert Glasper and his band R+R=NOW perform there on July 8 at a show featuring former Montreux co-director Quincy Jones, he said.