Damon Albarn: Montreux Jazz Festival

On July 10, 1987, Nina Simone performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, one of the most prestigious annual music events in the world.

Nina Simone was one of the greatest female vocalists of the 20th Century. She was equally at home singing jazz, blues, soul, gospel or pure pop. Nina made four appearances at the Montreux Festival between 1968 and 1990.

Johnny Cash was making a stunning career comeback following the release of his album "American Recordings" when he arrived in Switzerland for a special festival appearance, which was recorded for this home-video release.

This concert film captures a performance by Joe Cocker at the 1987 Montreux Jazz Festival. The set list includes 13 songs including such favorites as "Feeling Alright," "You Can Leave Your Hat On," "You Are So Beautiful," "With a Little Help From My Friends," and the hit song from An Officer and a Gentleman "Up Where We Belong."

Funky R&B group Average White Band performs at the 1977 Montreux Jazz Festival in this concert video. The Scottish group headlines the evening in a standout performance (at the height of their career) that features their hits "Pick Up the Pieces," "Work to Do," "A Love of Your Own" and "Cut the Cake." One of the band's original producers, Arif Mardin, mixed the original multi-track tapes from the show to achieve PCM Stereo and surround sound.

"Soul Brother No.1", "The Godfather Of Soul", "Mr Dynamite" are all titles that have been applied to James Brown over the years. A hugely influential figure in black American music, he was a driving force in the development of soul music in the early sixties and funk in the early seventies. He has had more R&B hits in the US than any other artist, and has charted singles in countries around the world. One of the defining elements of James Brown’s career has always been his electrifying live show and his performances at Montreux give ample evidence of this. This DVD focuses on his choice as the best of them all from 1981. It’s a string of hits from start to finish delivered with all the flamboyant style and showmanship for which he is rightly famous.

Despite the enormous success of his 1973 debut album TUBULAR BELLS, Mike Oldfield's first concert tour wasn't until 1979. His second, the European Adventure Tour in 1981, stopped in Switzerland for the Montreux Jazz Festival. The show sold out, the crowd was alive, and the atmosphere was electric!

The Live at Montreux series continues with a travel through time to June 22, 1969, featuring a performance from "The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald. Featuring fully restored black and white footage and remixed audio in 5.1 and DTS, this program presents a stunning performance from one of the most versatile jazz singers of all time. Joining Fitzgerald in this performance are Tommy Flanagan (piano), Frank de la Rosa (bass), and Ed Thigpen (drums).

This highly energetic concert reinforces Marvin Gaye as the undisputed prince of Motown. Where it resulted in thundering appreciation and applause from his audience. Among one of the most gifted talents to come up through the ranks of the Motown label, Gaye paved the way for the unrelenting progression of popular black tracks.

Live at Montreux 1996 is a live DVD by British hard rock band Deep Purple, recorded in 1996 and released in 2006. The CD and DVD release features live performances from Montreux in 1996 and 2000.

Sade, recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, in Montreux, Switzerland during 1984. Track list: Why can't we live together?; Your love is king; Hand on to your love; Sally; When I go to make a living; I will be your friend; Cherry pie; Frankie's first affair; Smooth operator; Snakebite; Love affair with life.

Keith Emerson, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer first joined forces in 1970 and went on to become a global success story. After a break in the eighties, they reunited in the early nineties and took to the road once more. In 1997 they made their debut at the Montreux Jazz Festival with a performance that included all their trademark virtuosity and showmanship. The show includes classic tracks from across their career including Karnevil 9, Hoedown, Take A Pebble, Lucky Man, Tiger in the Spotlight, Tarkus and Fanfare for the Common Man. Recorded live on July 7, 1997 at the Audtitorium Stravinski, Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland). Programme copyright 2010.

Marvin Gaye: Live in Montreux 1980 is a taped performance of singer Marvin Gaye's performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, recorded on July 17, 1980. Gaye included this performance as part of a European tour. Gaye performs a majority of his hits from his recent disco-funk hits "Got to Give It Up" and "A Funky Space Reincarnation", to his duet hits with Tammi Terrell including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", in which Gaye re-interpolated the songs as a somber tribute to Terrell, who died over a decade before, to sixties Motown classics such as "I'll Be Doggone", "Ain't That Peculiar", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" and "I Heard It through the Grapevine", to seventies standards such as "What's Going On", "Trouble Man" and "Let's Get It On". The Montreux set was later released as a CD/DVD in 2003.

These two complete concerts from Montreux in 1991 and 1992 catch Tori Amos right at the start of her solo career, one shortly before the release of het 'Little Earthquakes' album and the second a few months after. There is a clear progression from one year to the next as Tori grows in confidence and skill as a live performer, bouyed by the critical and commercial success of the album. The tracklisting focuses on 'Little Earthqaukes' and features all the hits from it but there are also rare songs from her early EPs including her distinctive takes on Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love' and 'Thank You', and Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'.