Swiss cultural manager Mathieu Jaton (50) took over the Montreux Jazz Festival after the death of founder Claude Nobs (1936-2013). Nobs had shaped the event on Lake Geneva for decades. This year, the festival celebrates its 60th anniversary. In conversation with the news agency spot on news, Jaton explains why he never aspired to replace his mentor - and how he instead transformed Montreux into a worldwide brand.
20 Years at the Founder's Side
Jaton speaks with great respect about the person who started it all. "Claude Nobs was unique. He wasn't just the festival founder, but a true friend to the artists," he says. Nobs had already worked with the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and many others in the early 1960s and led Warner Music Europe for a long time. The founder's significance was also reflected in honors: in 2004, Time Magazine recognized him as "European Hero," and in 2007 he was appointed Commandeur of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Already in April 2010, Nobs had handed over operational management to his team and to his designated successor Jaton for health reasons, but retained strategic leadership. On Christmas Eve 2012, Nobs had an accident while cross-country skiing in the Swiss town of Caux, had to undergo surgery and fell into a coma from which he never awoke. He died on January 10, 2013.
Not a Replacement, But an Institution
Mathieu Jaton had worked directly at his side for 20 years. The relationship went far beyond the professional: "He was my mentor and almost like a second father to me." Simply imitating the charismatic founder was out of the question for Jaton. "When he died, it was clear to me: I must not try to replace Claude. That's impossible," he says. Instead, he wanted to further develop the festival as an institution.
Jaton describes this approach as a dual task: "My mission was to make Montreux one of the most significant festival brands in the world while simultaneously preserving Claude's legacy." While many festivals lose significance after the death of their founders, he deliberately succeeded in taking the opposite path.
Montreux Goes Around the World
Concretely, this meant above all expansion. The Montreux Jazz Festival today has a presence far beyond Lake Geneva. According to Jaton, there are offshoots in China, Tokyo, Miami and Rio, plus the Montreux Jazz Cafés and other projects. His goal was to establish the festival as a global brand.
A Moving Moment with Quincy Jones
That this path was also supported by the artists became clear to Jaton in a moment with Quincy Jones (1933-2024). The U.S. music producer had long been closely connected to Montreux: in the 1990s, he even shared festival management with Nobs for a time. The two were close friends, and after the founder's death, Jones strongly supported the festival.
At a small celebration for Jaton's own work anniversary, something unexpected happened: Jones took the microphone and read a text he had written for him. In it, he acknowledged that Jaton was leading the festival into the future and fulfilling the hopes that Nobs once had. "When someone like Quincy Jones says something like that, it means a great deal," the festival director says, still moved today.
A Vision for the Year 2035
For the coming years, Jaton has a clear goal in mind. "In ten years I will be 60 years old. By then I want to achieve that the institution is so stable and independent that it doesn't matter who leads it," he says. "The festival should be stronger than any single person." At the same time, he wants to preserve what makes Montreux special in his view: the closeness between artists and audience. "Especially in an industry where everything is getting faster, bigger and more expensive, we need places like Montreux," Jaton emphasizes.
This self-concept is also reflected in the title of the photo book "The Elegance of Time," which he presented in Munich in mid-June on the occasion of the anniversary. Montreux should remain an oasis, says Jaton: "While the music world is becoming increasingly digital and faster, I want Montreux to be like a valuable vinyl record - something you listen to attentively and experience consciously."
The anniversary edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival with John Legend, Sting, Deep Purple and many more takes place from July 3 to 18.
