Claude Nobs

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Claude Nobs was born on 8 February 1936 in Montreux, Switzerland. He is the founder and general manager of the famous Montreux Jazz Festival. He was mentioned in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water" as Funky Claude.

Nobs also can be heard introducing Jethro Tull on the CD release of their live album Bursting Out.

[edit] Biography

After apprenticing as a cook, Nobs worked in the Tourism Office of Montreux. He later went to New York, where he met Nesuhi Ertegun, the president of Atlantic Records. There he met Roberta Flack and invited her to the Rose d’Or de Montreux. Later, Aretha Franklin made her first visit to Europe thanks to him.

At the age of 31, while he was director of the Tourism Office of Montreux, he organized the first jazz festival with featuring artists such as Charles Lloyd, Keith Jarrett, Ron McLure and Jack DeJohnette. This new festival was an immediate success, and gained a reputation far beyond Switzerland. Nobs quickly transformed his festival into an international gathering place for lovers of jazz.

In 1971, the group Deep Purple decided to produce and record an album in Montreux. The group also was scheduled to perform at the Casino de Montreux, shortly after Frank Zappa. During Zappa's concert, the venue caught on fire and reduced the Casino to ashes. Nobs saved several young people who hid in the casino, thinking they would be sheltered from the flames. This act earned him a mention (as Funky Claude) in the song Smoke on the Water, which is about the incident.

In 1973, Nobs became the director of the Swiss branch of Warner, Elektra and Atlantic. On the live Jethro Tull album Bursting Out (recorded May 28, 1978 in Berne), one can hear Nobs announcing "...herzlich willkommen in Festhalle Bern !" (Welcome to the Festhall of Berne).

During the 1990s, Nobs shared the directorship of the festival with Quincy Jones, and made Miles Davis an honorary host. The festival continued to diversify, and was no longer exclusively devoted to jazz.

In 2004, the festival attracted 200,000 visitors. On September 25, 2004, Nobs received the Tourism Prize of Salz & Pfeffer. The canton of Vaud gave hime the "Prix du Rayonnement" for his contributions to music. He has also received an honorary doctorate.