René Langel was born on November 25, 1924 in Neuchâtel. He has worked for various media outlets in western Switzerland, in particular for the Tribune de Lausanne and “Vevey-Riviera”, where he was editor-in-chief.
One of the saxophonist’s passions was jazz. Together with Claude Nobs and Géo Voumard, he founded the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1967.