Prince/Switzerland 07.16.2007

This recording captures Prince’s live performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, a unique gig in his career, with the ultimate audience recording and the most immersive experience! The first half begins like a full-on jazz aftershow, with Prince focusing on guitar. The dark 12-minute Footprints quickly transitions into a groovy 20-minute rendition of The World Is A Ghetto from The War. Mike Phillips’ funky vocoder explodes! This is a development I’ve never heard before! Satisfied is a very jazzy track, and Prince finally adds vocals. The following songs are also jazz-infused, especially Gotta Broken Heart Again, where the piano and Prince’s vocals intertwine exquisitely! It’s a richer world than ONA. Perhaps this is something that only Montreux can achieve. Also making its debut! Shelby’s cover of Amy Winehouse’s Love Is A Losing Game is full of back-alley cabaret vibes. The set featured a jazz-funk rendition of Musicology, followed by a selection of pop tunes from Prince & The Band, but stopped short of becoming too rock-heavy. Shelby also sang backing vocals on all of the songs from his Mu-Colo days, creating a very soulful performance. Then, Nothing Compares 2 U transformed back into vocal jazz. After a brief rendition of Take Me With U, a long-awaited performance, the band finally debuted the studio guitar version, a new song, not an acoustic one, played in full! Prince was on fire, playing the best live version, hats off! Then, with the rock atmosphere of It’s Not Over Yet 7 and Come Together continuing, Prince suddenly took to the stage and sang! He played Little Red Corvette for the first time in ages! And then Sometimes It Snows In April! This aggressive development, completely ignoring the fact that it was a jazz festival, was typical of Prince, 49 years old! While it may seem like an all-jazz album, the strange blend of pop and rock is a stylish nod to Prince’s unique attitude towards Montreux. It may be selfish, but it was a fantastic live performance! Montreux Jazz Festival Main Show Stravinsky Auditorium 16 July 2007 Disc 1: When The Saints Go Marching In – Footprints – The World Is A Ghetto – Down By The Riverside – Satisfied – Girls & Boys – Purple Rain – What A Wonderful World – Gotta Broken Heart Again – Love Is A Losing Game – Sweet Thing Disc 2: Musicology – Prince & The Band – Play That Funky Music – I Feel For You – Controversy – Crazy – Nothing Compares 2 U – Take Me With You – Guitar – 7 – Come Together – Little Red Corvette – Sometimes It Snows In April LITTLE RED CORVETTE 13. SOMETIMES IT SNOWS IN APRIL