CAUX, Switzerland, – A friend of music legend Quincy Jones, whose death was announced Monday, recalled how he would create a spark of electricity among the musicians in attendance during all-night jam sessions during the Montreux Jazz Festival. Were.

After the official event ended on the shores of Lake Geneva, the musicians accompanied Jones up the mountain to the chalet of festival founder Charles Nobbs and his partner Thierry Amslem and continued playing.

“For him, it was a pleasure, because among musicians, they have a common language, they understand each other. They produced a lot of electricity together,” Amsalem recalls from the bungalow in Cox Village. Hui Kah, which is decorated with music memorabilia. Some great acts from the festival, including Jones’ trumpet.

“So with Quincy, there’s always something going on,” Amsalem said. “He was from another planet.”

“It’s very sad, because after 35 years of friendship, a long friendship, it’s always hard,” Amsalem said. “The last words he said to me were: ‘Thierry, keep going, keep going’.”

A bronze statue of Jones, with his arms open to conduct an imaginary crowd of musicians, stands in Montrose to honor him and his influence on music.

Amsalem, who is the owner of Montreux Sounds and founder of the Claude Nobbs Foundation, said that Jones was determined to break out of what he described as the jazz “shoe box” designated for black musicians.

Describing Jones’ attitude he said, “One can’t put African-Americans in a shoebox and write jazz on it. So we want to open up all musical styles.”

He credits Jones with the idea of ​​bringing him to the Montreux Festival in 1991, a few months before the death of jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. The result was a performance, with Jones as conductor, that won him a Grammy Award.

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