Meanwhile Back In Montreux

On June 26 it will open at the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, the hotel that has historically offered “the soul of Swiss hospitality” to many Montreux Jazz headliners. B.B. King, James Brown, David Bowie, Miles Davis, Roberta Flack, Leonard Cohen, Joe Cocker, Santana, and Grace Jones are all in the guest book.

They’d likely stay in rooms with such names as the Freddy Mercury Suite and the Quincy Jones Suite. Randy Crawford is remembered for singing in the lobby bar until “early morning,” Prince for playing the bar’s piano, and Quincy Jones for ordering late-night snacks of spicy chicken.

To further honour festival founder Claude Nobs, who died in a skiing accident on Christmas Eve 2012, the café will be decked in “the purest Claude Nobs style.”

The Fairmont’s Harry’s Bar has been renamed Funky Claude’s Bar. The café’s postal address is Number 2 Claude Nobs Avenue, the recently named section of the Grand Rue that runs between the Royal Plaza hotel and the Fairmont Montreux Palace.

Work on the new café was scheduled to begin May 12 and the opening set to coincide with the 48th Montreux Jazz Festival.

The festival lineup (July 4-19) includes Damon Albarn, Santana, B.B. King, Paul Simon, Liza Minelli, Paolo Nutini, and Ricky Martin.