"A Natural Fit": Montreux Jazz Festival Readies Its Miami Debut

There are plenty of iconic music festivals around the world, from massive outdoor extravaganzas like Coachella and Glastonbury to urban experiences like South by Southwest (SXSW) and Ultra. But the Montreux Jazz Festival, held yearly in the lakeside city in Switzerland, is something else entirely.

Attracting more than 250,000 people to the French-speaking city for 15 days each summer, Montreux is one of the world's great stages, celebrated for its intimate venues, musical breadth, and ability to attract global talent. Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Talk Talk, Wu-Tang Clan, and many more have filed iconic performances there. Prince made the festival a fixture of his performing schedule in the years prior to his death. Deep Purple even wrote "Smoke on the Water" about the Montreux Casino burning down during Frank Zappa's 1971 performance.

Now, the festival is looking to take that storied legacy on the road, hosting international editions for those who can't jet off to Switzerland. It successfully hosted a Brazilian edition of the festival in Rio de Janeiro, and after setting sights on North America, the organizers quickly realized there was one city that fit better than any others: Miami.

"Miami was a very natural fit for us for a few different reasons. One, obviously, is the sort of cultural vibrancy and intermingling of Miami is very synonymous in many ways with Montreux," says Jeremy Arditi, co-chair of Montreux Jazz Festival Miami. "The other important part of what makes Montreux so magical is the setting. It takes place on the lakefront. So being close to the water was kind of non-negotiable for us. We wanted to find a place that was close to water in a city that was synonymous with its waterfront."

It's that waterfront that will play host to Montreux Jazz Festival Miami's inaugural edition. The festival takes place March 1-3 at the Hangar at Regatta Harbour in Coconut Grove, steps away from Biscayne Bay.

Arditi, a Miami native, describes bringing the festival to the city as a "passion project." He helped convince the festival's organizers to launch an edition in Miami — which wasn't a difficult task, according to fellow co-chair Adam Fell.
"It's become one of the most coveted destinations in the world," says Fell, a music executive who serves on the international advisory board for Montreux Jazz. "We found out from the CEO of the Swiss festival that dozens of his partners approached him after the word of Miami began to spread about how badly they wanted to go, how badly they wanted to go on vacation and attend the festival. That's just the power of Miami right now."

The choice of venue is intentional for another reason besides its bayfront surrounds. With less than 1,500 attendees per day, Arditi and Fell want to start Montreux Miami off small, both in order to replicate the scale of the Swiss festival and to leave room for future editions to grow. That small start has already paid off. Tickets for the first night are sold out, and Saturday and Sunday's tickets are going fast.

"We want to put one foot in front of the other, first and foremost, and make sure the artists and the audience have as amazing an experience as we've had in the original festival in Switzerland, or as close to that as we can replicate," Arditi says.

"The festivals that you see succeed have self-awareness and humility, right? [They] don't try to grow too big for their britches too early or too soon," Fell says. "We started small on this. And we really focused on bringing in the right family. I'm so excited about our partnership with Jon Batiste."
Also a partner of the Miami festival, frequent Grammy nominee and Tonight Show bandleader Jon Batiste will lead Friday's sold-out program. He's just one of a plethora of recognizable names set to play the first edition. Paying homage to the Swiss version's annual Brazilian night, Saturday sees Daniela Mercury and Seu Jorge take the spotlight, with Cuban R&B and funk act Cimafunk also on the bill. On Sunday, Daryl Hall of Billboard-dominating pop combo Hall & Oates will close things out, supported by reggae legends the Wailers, as well as local artist Emily Estefan, daughter of Gloria and Emilio.

Locals will be represented in other ways, too. Vinyl bar Dante's HiFi will run an outdoor stage within the festival's VIP lounge, with resident DJs spinning between sets throughout the weekend. Restaurants, including the adjacent Bayshore Club, have been tapped to provide food and beverages.

Finally, each night will end with a jam session, a signature of the Swiss festival in which musicians come together for a spontaneous, unplanned performance. The jams, which can be accessed via their own standalone ticket, are especially beloved by Fell. He cites a jam from several years ago that included a tribute to Prince from Janelle Monae, with Batiste on piano as his favorite. Monae hadn't even been scheduled to perform — she was simply in the crowd and decided to climb onstage.

"It's such a special part of that festival," Fell says. "[It was] completely spontaneous, not planned at all. But it went incredibly well because the artists are so excited to be in Montreux. This is what we're trying to replicate here in Miami."

Montreux Jazz Festival Miami. With Jon Batiste and Friends, Daniela Mercury, Seu Jorge, Daryl Hall, the Wailers, and others. 5 p.m. Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2, and 4:30 p.m. Sunday, March 3, at the Hangar at Regatta Harbor, 3385 Pan American Dr., Coconut Grove; montreuxjazzfestivalmiami.com. Tickets cost $99 to $719 via tixr.com.