Hip hop
We’re standing on the edge of Lake Geneva at sunset on Friday night, in the shadow of Freddie Mercury’s imposing bronze statue. The elegant sounds of Michael Kiwanuka flutter past in the wind. In this moment, it’s hard to avoid the sense of magnitude – both in the beauty of the setting and history of a festival that has been graced by the greats and followed in the footsteps by a new wave of future icons.
Celebrating its 58th year, the Montreux Jazz Festival welcomed some 250,000 spectators over its two-week period of programming.
We dropped by on the final weekend for the culmination of the festival, at the climax of a fortnight welcoming some of the most exciting and eclectic sounds from around the globe. Situated on the banks of Lake Geneva with towering mountains over France, the setting alone is enough to immerse you in the mystical world of Montreux. Bars, restaurant, pop up stages and street performers snake their way up the historic lakeside path on the way to the festival’s main stages, that play host to two headline acts per evening.
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Thursday night welcomed the angelic RAYE to the Stage Du Lac, the temporary home for the evening headliners while the Convention Centre stage is temporarily closed for renovation. The lakeside stage on the balmy evenings was a welcome replacement for the typical indoor auditorium, providing breathtaking backdrops overlooking the lake, married perfectly with an incredibly fine-tuned sound system.
RAYE connected effortlessly with the crowd, winning them over instantly by revealing her Swiss side of the family was in the crowd, including her proud grandad waving from the stands.While celebrated for her glossy pop hits, it was her deep, jazz, soul and big-band renditions of her tracks that cut through, showing the extent of her powers as both a songwriter and captivating performer, alongside her 10-piece band dressed to the nines in typical elevated, Montreux style.
Each track climaxed in RAYE’s words with “over the top, dramatic finishes” – melodic jazzy skits and spine-tingling extended notes that showed off the breadth and power of her voice.She gave individual moments for her impressive band to shine on jazzy solos from the brass section, keys, bass and guitar. Raye danced, twisted and sat on the floor, swaying, during these solos, in adoration of her accomplished bandmates.
She took time to check in with the crowd as she went, detailing band secrets and compelling stories of how her tracks came together.
One moment struck a stark chord, as she emotionally detailed a sexual assault as the motivation for her track, ‘Ice Cream Man’. RAYE’S charm was personified in a single moment – rousing the crowd with an otherworldly note while she sat on the floor and beat the stage. As she stood up, she tripped on her dress, interrupted herself with a quick laugh at herself and a “whoops”, before sliding straight back into her monumental crescendo. While perhaps a lazy connection, you couldn’t help but draw comparisons to Amy Winehouse in her loveable personality, brutal honesty and spell binding talent.
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With the sun set, the formidable Janelle Monáe stepped out to deliver a typically intense and well drilled performance that furthered her standing as an icon of female empowerment and progressiveness.
Taking us through multiple “chapters” of deep storytelling and theatrical performance, she took the audience on a journey across multiple genres, moods and extravagant outfit changes and reveals.
On her record ‘Champagne Shit’, she called out Montreux legends from past eras as her band played mini tribute solos in response, “Miles Davis” met with a trumpet flourish, “Bootsy Collins” with a bass riff and “Freddie Mercury” with a tinkle on the keys.
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The performance froze in dramatic effect some three-quarters of the way through, blacking out the lights. The silence was met by the sound of reverberating clicking fingers from her band that filled the venue in dramatic fashion. Into a spotlight appeared Monáe, adorning white gloves, sparkly blazer with shoulder pads and matching trilby, channelling Michael Jackson.
Moving flawlessly for several minutes, she delivered a solo dance performance to these intense clicks alone that MJ himself would have been proud of, ending with a moon walk in sync with her dancers.
The performance peaked when she invited multiple members of the crowd to come up and dance, including a 60-year-old superfan twerking to the crowd’s delight.
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Friday night welcomed TikTok favourites Jungle, who delivered a typically tight and high energy set. Their signature deep-orange, 70s-esque AV show was in perfect sync with the colours in the sky, as it bled from orange to red and pink above the lake’s gentle waves.
Dotted along the lake front are mini stages, like the charming Lake House, featuring the American Style jazz venue, The Memphis, which welcomes elite players for open jam sessions, including RAYE passing by the intimate room after her headline set.
The monumental nature of playing this legendary festival is plain to see across all performances across the weekend. They revel in stepping onto stage blessed by countless legends over almost six decades.
And the legacy of the festival is dotted all over the site, not least the grand statue of Freddie Mercury overlooking the lake. The Queen front man lived in the city and recorded six of the band’s albums here. Bowie lived in nearby Blonay for several years. Miles Davis visited on dozens of occasions, playing 9 times over a 30-year period, including a collaboration with a Quincy Jones-led orchestra in 1991.
The stunning backdrop of the lakeside city in the shadow of Mont Blanc has offered a place of refuge, acceptance and format for expression for artists for almost 60 years and continues to do so to this day.
This freedom of expression and open mindedness is felt across the site and embodied by fans and players alike.
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Words: Angus McKeon
Photography: Emilien Itim, Marc Ducrest, Francesca Jennings
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