Montreux (band)

Montreux
Origin	San Francisco, United States
Genres	Chamber jazz, new age, bluegrass
Years active	1982–1990
Labels	Windham Hill
Members	Mike Marshall Darol Anger Barbara Higbie Michael Manring Todd Phillips Andy Narell Tom Miller Will Kennedy Frank Holder

Montreux was the name of an American fusion band, specializing in the blend of jazz and bluegrass, with jam elements. The band was active from approximately 1982 until 1990 and recorded on Windham Hill Records. The name of the band came from the jazz festival in Switzerland of the same name.

The group consisted of four core members:

Additional members included:

Philips, in particular, was a prominent member of the band early on, stemming from his connection with Anger and Marshall when they played together in the David Grisman Quintet.

The group's roots started in the late 1970s when Darol Anger met Barbara Higbie in Paris. After performing together, they began writing music. Anger later met violin player David Balakrishnan through David Grisman and, along with Mike Marshall, formed the band Saheeb (1980–1983). Anger met Will Ackerman around the same time (1980), and Ackerman, impressed by Anger's fiddling on his solo record Fiddlistics, asked Anger to record a record for Windham Hill. Anger and Higbie released their first record, Tideline in 1982 (Higbie stated in 2006 that the mixing and production studio "was still in Will's garage"). The record was a success.

Anger brought in long-time colleagues Mike Marshall and Todd Philips to join him and Higbie (they were later joined by Andy Narell). They quickly became known for their unique acoustic jazz and soloing styles. Balakrishnan left the band to study composition and Anger took on the violin roles full-time. In 1984, Anger, Phillips, Marshall Higbie and Narell performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, and their recording during the festival marked the second album for the band.

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