The Montreux Jazz Festival and BMG have announced the next installment in The Montreux Years series with “John McLaughlin: The Montreux Years,” which will be released on Friday, March 4, 2022.
Curated and compiled by John McLaughlin, the album is a collection of his finest performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival between 1978 and 2016. The recording has been restored and mastered, and it will be available in multi-format configurations, including superior audiophile heavy weight vinyl, CD and on streaming services, in superlative HD audio.
Ranked in Rolling Stones magazine’s list of “100 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time,” John McLaughlin became a long-time friend of the Montreux Jazz Festival, having played at the iconic Swiss festival many times. The performances in this new collection are curated from six shows between 1978 to 2016 with the various ensembles of “The Mahavishnu Orchestra” “The Heart Of Things,” “The Free Spirits,” “The 4thDimension” and his fellow virtuoso and close friend Paco de Lucia.
“To speak about The Montreux Jazz Festival brings back so many wonderful memories. But since my association goes back to 1971, we are looking at 50 years of history,” says McLaughlin.
“Whether it’s the different incarnations of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shakti, The One Truth Band, The Free Spirits, The Heart of Things, Carlos Santana or with the late great Paco de Lucia, the list goes on and on. Not only all my musical performances at Montreux, but all my other visits to see my dear friend Claude Nobs the founder, my friends of the festival, join jam sessions, go hiking in the fabulous countryside around that lovely town. Montreux is a big part of my life’s musical and personal history and to share this selection of my performances on this recording makes me truly happy.”
Launched in 2021, ‘The Montreux Years’ is the embodiment of the spirit of the Montreux Jazz Festival and the legacy of its founder, Claude Nobs. Nobs refused to compromise on quality or settle for anything other than the best and this ethos lives on in the superb quality of the recordings compiled in ‘The Montreux Years’. Mastering has been performed by Tony Cousins at London’s Metropolis Studios, incorporating MQA to capture the original sound of the special live performances. Like previous releases of the series “John McLaughlin: The Montreux Years”, will be accompanied by exclusive liner notes by McLaughlin himself and previously unseen photography.
