The sound of Montreux: how a Swiss jazz festival became a legendary stage for the world’s musicians

Prince treated Montreux like a private laboratory: three nights, three different shows and a fearless blend of bandleader swagger, guitar heroics and post-New Power funk. The run doubled as a European coming-out for his 3rdeyegirl era, with arrangements snapping from lean rock muscle to elastic Minneapolis grooves.

Setlists ricocheted through “Sign o’ the Times”, “Housequake”, “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man”, plus cheeky covers and NPG-style medleys—proof of how Montreux’s audiophile setting invites risk, not retread. Critics clocked the shows as late-period peaks; the documentation that circulates among fans confirms just how immaculately staged they were. If you want a late-career snapshot of Prince in total control—band as instrument, stage as canvas—start here.

Fresh off good kid, m.A.A.d city, Kendrick Lamar vaulted from cult hero to festival-closer energy in an intimate room, tightening every bar with a live band. The setlist reads like a modern canon—“The Art of Peer Pressure”, “m.A.A.d city”, “Money Trees”, “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe”—but what made Montreux special was the dialogue: jazz-festival crowd, rapper at his hungriest, arrangements that breathed. Archival clips of “Swimming Pools”, “The Recipe” and “m.A.A.d city” still rattle with that night’s voltage, and the festival has since framed it as a near-mythical appearance. It also quietly signalled hip-hop’s secure place in Montreux’s orbit—not a detour, an extension of improvisational ethos.

Before arenas and Grammys, there was a packed Jazz Lab and a set that felt like a defining moment in a stellar career. Dua Lipa arrived with hooks—“Hotter Than Hell”, “IDGAF”, “Thinking ’Bout You”, “New Rules”—but Montreux revealed a vocalist with command and a band with punch. In hindsight, the performance plays like a proof of concept: pop precision scaled to a boutique stage, charisma turned up just enough to feel inevitable. A star in formation, caught on tape.

Montreux returned the love to its patron saint with an all-night, all-stars-on-call celebration that ran until just before dawn. Think Jacob Collier, Robert Glasper, Ibrahim Maalouf, Talib Kweli and more, rotating through a living mixtape of Quincy Jones’s songbook—film themes, pop blockbusters, deep jazz lineage—stitched together with the festival’s trademark finesse. The result was less tribute, more continuum: a house band of ringers, surprise cameos and a programming brain that understands Jones as a genre unto himself. Big-band opulence met club-level intimacy, and the message was clear—Montreux history is best told by the players who made it.

Afrofuturist theatre met Swiss precision as Janelle Monáe brought the Dirty Computer vision to Montreux: part revue, part protest rally, all immaculate showcraft. The set threaded sing-alongs with choreography and costume changes, but the secret sauce was the sound—intimate mic-to-audience moments detonating into full-band euphoria. In Montreux’s late-night ecosystem, she also became a magnet for jam-session energy around town—proof of how the festival’s after-hours culture amplifies headliner momentum. Monáe’s blend of rap cadences, doo-wop harmonies and Prince-school funk landed with studio clarity.

Montreux was a stress test for The Smile, the pandemic-era side project of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, playing with drummer Tom Skinner. The performance was taut, jazz-adjacent without pastiche: “Pana-vision”, “The Opposite”, “Free in the Knowledge / A Hairdryer”, “You Will Never Work in Television Again” all landed with surgical focus. Montreux’s endorsement was immediate—the set became an official Live at Montreux release, paired with a one-off concert film stream. 

Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant and bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss revisited their 2007 collaboration—for the critically acclaimed one-off Raising Sand—15 years later at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Here, they distilled their music to a luminous whisper, with harmonies that floated in the immaculate Auditorium Stravinski. The set moved from “Rich Woman” and “Quattro” to surprise lightning—Robert Plant stepping into “Rock and Roll”, reimagined as a dusty waltz rather than a gallop. 

For his 2023 return to the Montreux Jazz Festival, Sam Smith leaned into the big sing-alongs—“Stay With Me”, “I’m Not the Only One”, “Like I Can”, “Dancing with a Stranger”—but the production choices felt purpose-built for fidelity: dynamic swells, choir textures and spotlit ballads that made the hall feel like a studio live room. Festival materials flagged it as a long-awaited Auditorium Stravinski debut; fan footage and setlists capture the arc from torch-song hush to victory-lap catharsis. If Montreux asks artists to trust the room, Smith answered with velvet and bite.

Raye’s Montreux bow had the narrative beats you dream of: a breakout year, a Swiss-heritage family moment (performing before her Appenzell-born grandfather), confessional stage patter and a set that slid from jazz standards to “Escapism.” with fearless ease. The festival moved quickly to canonise it: Live at Montreux Jazz Festival 2024 arrived soon after on vinyl and digital, with the full concert later published online. Tracklist highlights—“The Thrill Is Gone”, “Ice Cream Man”, “Genesis”, “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”—show her range; the recording locks in why the night felt special: spontaneity with studio-grade sheen. It’s the Montreux pipeline at its best—play, capture, immortalise.

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