St. Moritz Festival da Jazz – A holiday for the heart
Beatrice Lessi
Are you afraid of Dracula?
Well, You shouldn’t be, because the return of this iconic club is one of the highlights of the Festival da Jazz 2023 in St.Moritz, that takes place 22-31 July, everywhere in the resort (and I mean it: you might bump into a concert while clubbing, shopping or walking in the mountain early in the morning).
Kulm is the heart
The Kulm Hotel is the heart of the festival. Sitting at its iconic windows overlooking Lake St.Moritz and the Engadin valley, I flip through its Jazz books and program. I decide to go and watch Matt Bianco, the British band that became famous in the 80s for their Latin-flavored jazz. I’m lucky: it’s one of the free concerts and basically below my room, so I don’t even need to get out and look for the venue. But I go for a stroll and a bit of window shopping in the afternoon – the Kulm is right in the center of everything – and hear a beautiful melody: another concert, outdoor and in a pleasantly sunny coffee shop. My husband proposes me a drink, we enjoy half an hour of music and then go back to the hotel.
The Kulm Country Club
Our pre-concert dinner is at the Kulm Country Club, that to me is pure St.Moritz: beautiful ladies in short sleeved cachemire, sun tanned polo players having pre dinner drinks, calm luxury, retro photographs, skiing gear and trophies in glass and wooden panels that let you admire the sunset over the mountains. Our waitress is called Beatrice (ofShe helps me with the menu and takes time to describe all dishes – using her hands of course, because she’s Italian. I savour the fresh crunchy salads and perfectly seared tuna, and finish off with a chocolate dessert that mixes cold and warm, crunchy and soft. Delicious, and by the end of dinner we have seen the whole sunset.
Matt Bianco
Time to go go the concert, so we walk one minute and we are back in the hotel. The Matt Bianco band enters the Sunny Bar, the saxophone starts, we (audience) are still shy. But when their hit songs from the 80s arrive, the place is set on fire! I’m not writing all the naughty memories that come to my mind while I start following the beat. I listen to the lyrics and they are so light and positive…I am really having a holiday from the world. The drum solo are another highlight, everybody is moving by now. There are also a lot of young people, and I wonder how on earth they know this music. The answer probably is: because it’s cool. Good classics will always be a blast. We haven’t been out so late for a very long time and we’re still dancing when the band leaves and we finally go to bed.
The morning after
The morning after I pass the corridor to the gym and overhear a conversation between staff of the house keeping.
Make every room like it’s for a VIP, and take your time so it looks beautiful
A lady says in a soft voice, to a very young woman who seems new. That gives me a smile, and indeed our room is, made like we are VIPs.
It’s time to go for breakfast, and right in front of our table I see the Matt Bianco band – this is the magic and glamour of the Kulm, where everything is happening even if you are not even looking for it.
My husband and I check out with a big smile, feeling completely relaxed. It was a high quality weekend, but above all an easy going, heart warming break that we will repeat for sure. The Festival Da Jazz is its 16th edition, so I think we should go again at least to the 20th one…See you soon St.Moritz!
