This post is part of an archived series of blogs called The LeVine Line, written by former Ambassador Suzan G. LeVine during her time at U.S. Embassy Bern.
18 July 2014
On Wednesday, I was honored to be able to attend the Montreux Jazz Festival and got a chance to see Stevie Wonder – WOW – what an extraordinary show! He was introduced by Quincy Jones and then event – I went on to play for more than 2 hours (without having even a sip of water). He improvised, he jammed, and he generated more energy than all of the hydroelectric dams in all of Switzerland (and there are a lot of them!).
Beforehand, I had the chance to spend some time with the Mayor of Montreux, Laurent Wehrli, and the Montreux Jazz Festival director, Mathieu Jaton.
Coming out of the event, I couldn’t help but marvel at how great an example of our great relationship this event is – especially given the blend of many American Artists, a type of music that was born in America(Jazz) and has now been fully embraced by the Swiss and a stunning stage on the shores of Lake Geneva.
As much as I have the title of Ambassador, frankly – I look at folks like Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones and think of them as the ULTIMATE US Ambassadors!
Thank you to all those involved in the festival for your hard and beautiful work!
