With a passion for bebop, trumpeter and architect Serge Wintsch and his wife Francine have been at the helm of the JazzOnze+ festival in Lausanne, Switzerland, for more than 20 years. Every year since 1986, for one week in November, JazzOnze+ has brought the universal essence of jazz to the stage. It blends African-American music with Caribbean, African and Oriental influences via its capitals, New York, London, Paris and... Lausanne.

In the words of his childhood friend Michel Thévoz on RTS radio: « It was the passion for jazz that immediately united us, at a time when jazz was much more than jazz (...) We were in love with black culture and felt strongly that Armstrong, Parker and Monk had opened a new era. It's a fact: they changed the musical landscape and the collective sensibility of the world. » 

A few years ago, Serge Wintsch retired and leave this world on a beach in Sète, France.

In 2022, JazzOnze+, together with his two sons Alexis and Nicolas Wintsch, decided to pay a Tribute to Serge Wintsch on stage with about fifteen musician friends in different formations:
→  Producer, drums Alexis Wintsch
→  Producer, lights Nicolas Wintsch
→  Direction, piano François Lindemann
→  Direction, sax Yvan Ischer
→  Piano Max Jendly
→  Piano, hammond Alexandre Huber
→  Guitar Arnaud Racine 
→  Violon Emma Massonnet
→  Trumpet Pierre Drevet
→  Trumpet Jeff Baud
→  Sax, bass clarinet Michel Weber
→  Sax Maurizio Bionda
→  Trombone Danilo Moccia
→  Double bass Pierre-François Massy
→  Double bass Manu Hagmann
→  Double bass Noah Wintsch
→  Drums, percussion Olivier Clerc
→  Drums, percussion Cyril Regamey

Photo: © pascal schmidt