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Zug gets jazzed up for the 20th time this year since 1992

What I find special about open-air jazz festivals is the unique atmosphere and the excitement of the live performances.  There is a sense of freedom rooted in such events and an air of bohemian appeal and spontaneity, which is absolutely irresistible at the end of every summer. Arriving in Zug years ago I never thought that such a relatively small town would have its own jazz festival with traditions and an impressive line-up of high-class artists. As it turned out every year since 1992 Zug hosts one of the few open air jazz events in Switzerland, where for two nights in a row people become part of a rhythmic whirl of blue notes, improvisations and jazz fusion, performed by local, regional and world famous bands. This year, Jazz Night Zug is celebrating its 20^th anniversary with two special guests: the American soul singer Freda Goodlett and the Grammy –award winning musical artist Angélique Kidjo.
 
The beginning
It all started on a Thursday night in the summer of 1992, when a few New Orleans bands visited Zug as part of their tour in Switzerland and performed in front of the local audience on improvised stages at the Landsgemeindeplatz. The tour was actually an event project called “New Orleans meets…”. At that time it was supported by Credit Suisse, which was was financing jazz concerts all around Switzerland. Thanks to a cancellation of one of the hosting towns, Zug became an important part of the project. In two years’ time the event was stopped and this is when the Association of the Old Town of Zug took the initiative to make its own jazz night, called “Old time jazz night”.  Among the performing bands were “Picadilly Six”, “Jazzburgers” and “Jazzband Ball Orchestra”. The participating bands were playing on a few stages around the Old Town and after each gig they had to drag their instruments with them. At that time there was seating for the audience and no roofs for the stages. Even in rain and gloomy weather people were there with umbrellas and an unending desire for rhythmic grooves.
 
In 1997 the name of the festival was shortened to “Old Town Jazz Night”. One year later the famous clarinet virtuoso Sammy Rimington was booked to play in Zug: however, the date of the jazz night was postponed by one week because of heavy rain. This change cost the organizers a small fortune and they decided from then on, no matter how capricious the weather, to never postpone the festival dates. The year after, on the 8^th of July, almost 8000 people visited the festival. On the stage at the Fischmarkt, modern jazz bands performed as Caribbean rhythms sounded at the Schwanenplatz and the sunset over the lake of Zug was celebrated with “Tin Roof Orchestra”, “New Orleans Hot Shots” and eight more bands.
 
In 2001 the Association Jazz Night Zug was founded. Its members were and still are volunteers. Its main goal became the organization of the festival, finding sponsors and creating a programme that not only includes jazz, but swing, pop, world music and even folklore. Since then the dates were moved to the first Thursday after the summer holiday.
 
Zug as a contemporary Woodstock

This year the jazz festival will take place on the 25^th and 27^th of August. The main stage will be at the Landsgemeindeplatz and this is where Angélique Kidjo and Freda Goodlett will perform. The second stage is at the Gerbiplatz and the third one is at Schwanenplatz in the old town. This is the stage for the old-time-jazz lovers and the fans of the New Orleans bands and Dixieland music. On the stage at the Fischmarkt people will listen to swing and more mainstream jazz. For the first time this year at the bar of the Theater Casino Zug people will be able to listen a jam-session on Friday evening after midnight. The upcoming festival programme is printed on a poster-format silver and purple brochure, which also includes a short presentation of the performing 17 bands. For now it is only in German, but the president of the Jazz Night Zug Association Rainer Riek commented for ZUG4YOU that if they find a sponsor they will print it in English as well. They are also looking for support in translating the festival official website in English.
 
Within the festival all concerts are for free, but there are ways to supporti the event in the next years:

Rainer Riek, president of the Association Jazz Night Zug:People can become either members of our association, paying a yearly membership, which costs 100 CHF per person, or they can support us with direct sponsoring. Our main sponsor, Raiffeisen Bank, is leaving after 5 years of strong support and we will need help from next year. Through sponsorship we can invite interesting and well-known bands and performers. This year thanks to Garage Zimmermann (Volvo and Renault) in Cham we were able to invite Angélique Kidjo.
 
Another way of supporting the event this year is by purchasing the purple buttons of the Jazz Night Zug, which cost only 10 CHF per evening. People can buy them in advance from the Zug Tourismus at the main train station or from the Wunderbox in the Old Town. On the night of the festival students from the Kantonschule will be selling the buttons at the entrances and part of the profit will support their Matura trips. Purchasing a button is a voluntary, but symbolic gesture of support and appreciation for the people who organize this exciting summer event. Its trademark is undoubtedly the unique open-air atmosphere at the beautiful lake of Zug, where people can enjoy the individual voice of the local and regional jazz bands and at the same time meet other town people, make friends and create memorable experiences, have fun and catch the last moments of the magnificent summer evenings.

Rainer Riek, president of the Association Jazz Night Zug:This year we expect 10 000 people. I advice everyone to use the public transport or their bikes and I wish everyone a really jazzy time.
 
Tsitaliya Mircheva
 

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