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Montreux Jazz festival is pulsing and LuxuryActivist got to visit one of the most VIP places of all: the Claude Nobs chalet called Le Picotin. This is a very special place in the highs of Montreux, where Claude Nobs used to live and share his passion for music. 2 years after his death, his spirit has never been so strong and his home became a place for people sharing the same intense passion for music. Only some happy few have the chance to visit the place and enjoy the amazing hospitality. It is a place for memories and a place for hope in terms of the future of music. The review here.
Le Picotin Claude Nobs

The Montreux Jazz Festival, the entire world of music meets in Montreux

The Montreux Jazz festival is probably one of the most incredible music festivals in the world. From the edgy program, to the location, period of the year… everything is planned to deliver unique and exciting experiences. Created in 1967 by the visionary minds of Claude Nobs, Géo Voumard and René Langel. Originally a pure jazz festival, it welcomed concerts from Miles Davis to Keith Jarret, Nina Simone or Ella Fitzgerald. In 1970, the festival opened its doors to other music styles, gathering every year the very best: from Prince, to Lionel Ritchie, Portishead, Caetano Veloso, Toto or Tony Bennet and Lady Gaga! Between the Montreux Palace and the Stravinski auditorium, artists and the public meet in a good spirit. They all come to Montreux, the time of a summer break and they hit the notes with all their passion. The spirit was completely established by the personality of Claude Nobs. His life was music and Montreux would be sleeping without the determination of one man and his team to rise the Swiss festival on top of the charts!
The Stravisnki auditorium in Montreux
Stravinski auditorium montreux jazz

Claude Nobs chalet, the heart of pure passion for music

During a very special event, we were able to visit Claude Nobs chalet: Le Picotin.
From the outside, it looks like a normal Swiss chalet, an old farm refurbished as a house. But from the first seconds you enter the place, you get into a journey that you would never forget! There are screens and sound systems everywhere, furniture that will remind you the 50’s, the 60’s, the 70’s …. Several decades of history and design in a personal collection. Here are some elements that will let you speechless.

The interior decoration

It is all about music, design and good taste. Naturally there is a lot of objects, so Mr. Nobs was not the kind of minimalistic person when it comes to interior design.
Claude Nobs chalet le picotin
nobs montreux chalet  claude nobs montreux
claude nobs le picotin  funky claude chalet

The Swimming pool and the outside

The gardens and surroundings are outstanding. The Swimming pool and the charming chalet, associated with a breathtaking view of Montreux.
Claude nobs swimming pool
claude nobs chalet roof
Montreux sight seeing

5000 hours of concerts recordings

Claude Nobs has been recording all concerts since 1967 in audio and since 1970 in video. He started HD in 1990! So there are thousands of amazing tapes from all these incredible concerts. All now patrimony of humanity by UNESCO.
Montreux concerts recordings
Claude nobs concert recordings  montreux jazz concerts
montreux jazz recordings

Claude Nobs’s personal LP disks collection

As a true music aficionado, Claude Nobs has gathered an impressive collection of LP records. All organized in a clever shelf furniture.
claude nobs records collection
claude nobs music instruments  claude nobs piano

The video room, cherish on top of the cake

In the top of the chalet, just under the roof, Claude Nobs installed an amazing sound system thanks to the help of Hervé Lissek, Acoustic scientist and researcher at EPFL. Around 50 microphones are split in the room ceiling and measures continuously the sound in the room. It sends the measures to a processor that then simulates the sound from the main Montreux Jazz Festival auditorium. There are also around 50 sound speakers around the room to give you the full experience. Thanks to the addition of a HD projector, you get an experience “better than reality”, while you watch a Montreux concert, you really have the feeling to be in the middle of the Stravinski auditorium.
Herve Lissek room claude nobs
Please be aware that Claude Nobs chalet is not a museum. It is a private place opened to very happy few during the Montreux Jazz festival. So you cannot visit it.
Claude Nobs left a documentary heritage of international significance for current and future generations, inscribed as of June 2013 on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. Thierry Amsallem, his partner, will continue to give life to Claude’s collection through the newly established Claude Nobs Foundation, with a goal of preserving and making accessible to the greatest number of people this compendium of 5000 hours of live recordings. “It’s the most important testimonial to the history of music, covering jazz, blues and rock” is how Quincy Jones describes the Montreux Jazz Festival collection.

LA

inside Claude nobs chalet montreux jazz
Info sourced at Montreux Jazz Festival website, Claude Nobs foundation website, wikipedia and private visit to Le Picotin chalet. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.