New York, NY (Top40 Charts) This year, the festival features a brand-new layout in the town of Montreux due to construction work on the Convention Centre which typically hosts the festival's main stages. In its place, attendees will enjoy The Lake Stage, a main stage constructed in a breathtaking setting on the surface of Lake Geneva with the backdrop of the Alps. The festival also returns to the Casino, which is steeped in history, having burned down in the seventies and inspired Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water". The festival couldn't miss the chance to invite the group back for their tenth performance at Montreux. The new layout also reinforces the festival's free offering along an extended route on the lakeside quays.
Montreux is known for its complimentary combinations of artists, and this year is no different. Multi-faceted talent Janelle Monáe will feature on the same night as RAYE, following her record-breaking achievements at this year's BRITs. Another night features two giants of nineties electronic music:
Massive Attack, back after a five-year break, and Air, who will perform their cult album Moon Safari in its entirety to celebrate its 25th anniversary. PJ
Harvey and The
National will line up together in what will be an unmissable show for alt-rock fans.
Electronic music pioneers
Kraftwerk will make their anticipated return to Montreux with Irish electro pop singer
Roisin Murphy opening the evening, while another musical icon making their return is Sting, who will perform as part of a trio alongside a guitarist and drummer, just like in the heyday of The Police.
Sting will be preceded by soulful tones of Rag'n'Bone Man, while Grammy Award-winning rock musician
Lenny Kravitz also features, ahead of the release of his new album Blue Electric Light.
The 58th edition of Montreux Jazz Festival will feature major debuts from several long-awaited artists. The legendary
Duran Duran finally bring their synth-led anthems to Montreux more than 40 years after their formation. They will be preceded by another icon of the decade, Soft Cell. Nineties alt-rock group
Smashing Pumpkins will perform an exclusive
Swiss concert. For their Montreux debut,
Justice arrive following the release of their anticipated new album, and rarely seen on the road in Europe, funk phenomenon Vulfpeck will also perform on the Lake Stage.
Two all-British combinations will flit between melancholy and danceable euphoria:
Michael Kiwanuka and Jungle, and
Jessie Ware and
Paolo Nutini. Joining
Deep Purple for a historic concert on the shores of Lake Geneva is Alice Cooper.
Diana Krall and Jamie Cullum, two well established jazz pianists and singers, will be performing in Montreux for the sixth and seventh time respectively.
The Casino's programme blurs the lines between jazz, afrobeats, pop and rap. Steeped in musical history, this intimate setting has also proved the ideal stage for established artists to present special, unique projects.
Dionne Warwick will finally join the pantheon of great divas who have played at Montreux Jazz Festival. A veritable icon since the sixties, she is the second most charted singer on the Billboard Hot 100 in the twentieth century, behind Aretha Franklin.
After revolutionising the world of hip-hop with Outkast, André 3000 will be touring as an instrumentalist for the first time. Oscillating between jazz improvisations and meditative atmospheres, he will perform his captivating flute album New Blue Sun, with
Chicago rapper and poet Noname also featuring on the same evening. Since her concert at Montreux last summer,
Laufey has set a record for the best-selling jazz album on Spotify and won her first Grammy Award. She will be performing on the same night as d4vd, popular on TikTok for his melancholy ballads. The two artists collaborated on the track "This is How it Feels" and may well perform it together on stage for the first time. Montreux also welcomes Swedish superstar Loreen, the only woman to have won Eurovision twice.
Whether it's jazz, soul or R&B, one word runs through the Casino's programme: groove. Drummer Yussef Dayes, the spearhead of the UK jazz scene, will be sharing the bill with the new queen of British R&B, Mahalia, while the irresistible Afro-jazz collective Kokoroko will be performing on the same night as Jamaican-American multi-instrumentalist Masego. After shaking up the festival twice with her band
Alabama Shakes,
Brittany Howard will be presenting her critically acclaimed brand of soul-rock.
Montreux Jazz Festival has a longstanding history of hosting the brightest talents before they explode into global icons, with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran,
Dua Lipa and
Sam Smith all taking to this stage at the beginning of their careers. This year, it will host several bright and brilliant musicians in Victor Ray, Thee Sacred Souls, Jalen Ngonda, Henry Moodie and
Lauren Spencer Smith.
The Casino also plays host to artists in the world of Afrobeats, hip-hop and R'n'B. The first Nigerian female artist to win a Grammy Award, Tems has already enjoyed a string of prestigious collaborations with the likes of Beyoncé and Drake. Best known for her hit "
Water", Tyla has found her own style by fusing R'n'B with Amapiano.
On 21 November 1970, hippies from all over
Europe gathered for Pink Floyd's concert at the Casino. More than 50 years later, Nick Mason's comeback echoes that moment with a performance of the same material. With his Saucerful of Secrets project, the Floyd drummer and co-founder will focus on the band's founding years, from 1967 to 1972, including the Syd Barrett period and cult hits such as "Atom
Heart Mother" and "Echoes".
This summer, festivalgoers will be thrilled by a route stretching along the quays, with eleven free stages to discover. The Lake House returns with its the
Memphis jazz club and its jam sessions, the cinema screening room and the Bibliotheque - which brings together collections of vinyl and books, with talks presented each day by a guest. The free programme will be announced in full on 5 June 2024. For more information on Montreux Jazz Festival, head to www.montreuxjazzfestival.com/en/.
www.montreuxjazzfestival.com/en/programme
