Ascona Jazz Festival award is presented annually during the Jazz Ascona festival and is supported by the municipality of Ascona. Ascona Jazz Festival Ascona Jazz Festival, or Jazz Ascona, is an annual jazz festival held in Ascona, Switzerland. The 10-day festival takes place from late June to early July on the Swiss shores of Lake Maggiore and is devoted to historical styles of jazz, particularly New Orleans jazz. Under the direction of Nicolas Gilliet, Jazz Ascona features more than 200 concerts, 300 musicians, and events such as gospel choirs, jam sessions, exhibits, conferences, and films. Established in 2006, the Ascona Jazz Awards recognizes
Montreux Jazz Festival scope, including blues, soul, and rock artists, for instance Marianne Faithfull, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Deep Purple, Canned Heat and many others. Towards the end of the decade, the festival expanded even more, including music from all continents (with an emphasis on Brazilian music) and lasting a full three weeks. Santana came to Montreux for the first time in 1970; Van Morrison played in 1974 and 1980. Other artists included B.B. King, Gary Moore, Weather Report, Don Ellis, Crossfire, Buddy Guy, Camarón de la Isla, Soft Machine, Chuck Berry, George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, Eric Clapton, Luther Allison, Bo