This morning, Claude Nobs, founder and head of the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival, announced the line-up for the 43rd edition of the legendary Festival on the Swiss border of Lac Léman. Starting on July 3rd with the New York Salsa All Stars (with a rare European appearance by the great Dave Valentin), the festival runs again for two full weeks and three weekends.

Although the Casino, where most of the jazz concerts were held in recent years, is no longer part of the festival, there is still a lot of jazz to discover throughout. The CTI All Stars Band will perform music from the classic 70s jazz label founded by Creed Taylor and featuring, in its 2009 edition, Hubert Laws (who was also one of the original CTI musicians), Russell Malone, and Randy Brecker, among others (July 7th, Miles Davis Hall).

George Duke will be back and he has Rachelle Ferrell in tow. Together with George Benson, this promises to be another big night (July 13th, Stravinski Hall). One night will be dedicated to the late Nina Simone. Her music will be interpreted by Dianne Reeves, Lizz Wright, and Nina Simone's daughter, among others (July 11th, Stravinski Hall). John Scofield visits with his current New Orleans Funk project, Madeleine Peyroux, Melody Gardot, Jamie Cullum and Peter Cincotti are among the younger singer/songwriters scheduled to perform.

Longtime visitors to the festival like Marcus Miller, David Sanborn, and Herbie Hancock will return as well with their current projects. Expect also the unexpected: some musicans will turn up during other artists' shows as happened almost always in past festivals. The night of the Nina Simone tribute for example, the other of the two festival venues will host Grace Jones.

Anyway lots of great live music, interesting collaborations, sunny weather, and spectacular surroundings are a natural fact. visit www.montreuxjazz.com