BBC Four Picks Up They All Came Out to Montreux

Beyond TNC and BMG’s three-part series They All Came Out to Montreux is slated to air on BBC Four and iPlayer on June 16.

Featuring more than 40 testimonies, 30 concert performances and previously unseen images, the documentary explores the history of the Montreux Jazz Festival and its founder, Claude Nobs. Performances and testimonies come from Alicia Keys, Questlove, Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Nina Simone and many more.

The festival is now in its 57th year and continues to draw 250,000 music lovers from across the world to its stages on the Lake Geneva shoreline. Footage in the series comes from Nobs and Montreux Sounds, which has meticulously recorded all of the festival’s concerts from the late 1960s.

The documentary’s title takes its name from the opening lyrics of Deep Purple’s track “Smoke on the Water,” which was written about the band’s experiences at the festival.

The three-parter is directed by British filmmaker Oliver Murray and executive produced by Quincy Jones.

“They All Came Out To Montreux is a wonderful testament to the story behind what I consider to be the Rolls Royce of music festivals and how it came to be,” Jones said.