Visual arts
Marco Zeno
Marco Zeno is an Italian sculptor born in Milan, whose works in bronze and marble have been exhibited around the world. In Montreux he created five of the jazz busts lined up in the garden of the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace: B.B. King, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones and Carlos Santana, given by Barbara J. Riley to the festival’s founder, Claude Nobs. These bronzes, each catching its subject in a characteristic gesture, keep alive by the lake the memory of the Montreux Jazz Festival’s great regulars.
Marco Zeno, five bronzes in the Palace garden
A sculptor from Milan
Marco Zeno is an Italian sculptor born in Milan. He works in bronze and marble, and his works have been exhibited far beyond Italy.
In Montreux his name is attached to the garden of the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, where five of his busts form an open-air gallery devoted to the regulars of the Montreux Jazz Festival.
The busts in the garden
In that garden he made the busts of B.B. King, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones and Carlos Santana. All were given by Barbara J. Riley to Claude Nobs, the festival’s founder.
Each bronze catches its subject in a gesture: B.B. King holds Lucille, his guitar; Ray Charles is at the keyboard, head thrown back in laughter, his name engraved on the keys. The bust of Quincy Jones was replaced in 2019 by a life-size statue from the same sculptor.
Related places
▸Buste de B.B. KingBustOpen the place →
© Llez, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons The king of the blues and his guitar Lucille, immortalised in the Palace garden by Marco Zeno.
▸Buste d'Aretha FranklinBustOpen the place →
© Llez, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons The queen of soul, microphone in hand, sings facing the lake in the Palace garden.
▸Buste de Carlos SantanaBustOpen the place →
© Visit Montreux The guitarist, arms to the sky, guitar held close: a bust full of joy by Marco Zeno (2012).
▸Buste de Ray CharlesBustOpen the place →
© Llez, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons The genius of soul at his keyboard, head thrown back in laughter: a bronze by Marco Zeno.
▸Buste de Quincy JonesBustOpen the place →
© Visit Montreux The legendary producer, conductor’s arms raised, a historic partner of Claude Nobs.
