The Elegance Of Time, a glossy, 256-page coffee table book by Swiss-Iranian photographer Anoush Abrar, honors and illuminates the central tenet of Montreux Jazz Festival: this is an event for musicians to let go and collaborate spontaneously; to surrender to the moment.
“In the live business, what makes Montreux Jazz so different is the luxury of time that we’re giving to artists,” festival CEO Mathieu Jaton tells Billboard U.K. “That’s where the magic comes out. We want to give them time for creativity and inspiration, and for meeting people. When they’re staying in Montreux for two or three days, we will accept the cost of the hotel and catering et cetera and give them the space to fully be here.”
Released earlier this year to mark the festival’s 60th anniversary, The Elegance Of Time brings together more than 300 photographs spanning the past decade of performances and candid backstage moments, tracing the more recent evolution of Montreux Jazz through Abrar’s lens. Published alongside a new exhibition based in the Swiss resort town, the book features intimate images of artists including Sam Smith, Jon Batiste, RAYE and Benson Boone, capturing a newer slate of acts that have revitalized the concert series’ backstory; this year’s event, which kicked off on July 3, runs through July 18
Jaton, who has led the festival since 2013, inherited the role from founder Claude Nobs, whose vision transformed a small jazz gathering into one of the world’s most revered music events. Their shared backgrounds in hospitality are no coincidence. Before launching Montreux Jazz in 1967, Nobs worked as a fine dining chef, while Jaton began his career in Switzerland’s hotel industry. It is a lineage that continues to shape the festival’s identity today, with a particular emphasis on how artists are welcomed and cared for, treating them more like guests of the city.
When visiting Montreux, Jaton wagers, musicians “have less stress and more fun”; they are encouraged by the festival organizers to extend their trip and explore the surrounding locale, which is home to studios previously used by Queen and David Bowie and is recognized by UNESCO as a pivotal location for musical history. Montreux has a population of 27,000, and there is “no fanaticism in Switzerland,” Jaton says, meaning that audiences are appreciative but rarely intrusive, allowing artists to roam around with relative anonymity.
British soul-pop star Sienna Spiro, who returned to the festival on Monday (July 6) to perform in celebration of her debut LP Visitor, concurs. When Billboard U.K. meets the singer backstage at the newly-reopened Montreux Music & Convention Centre, home to venues Auditorium Stravinski and the Montreux Jazz Lab, she opens her iPhone camera roll to show us a montage of memories here: swimming in Lake Geneva, watching old Nina Simone footage from the Montreux Jazz archives, walking along the town’s cobbled avenues with her team at dusk.
“I feel at home performing here,” Spiro says. “I feel like the novelty of this festival doesn’t wear off. If I do some other festivals a second time, I don’t get that rush or ‘first time feeling’, but I definitely still have that for this. I’m so honored and grateful to be able to play this festival.”
So, what’s the magic in the water? Originally launched in 1967, Montreux Jazz has grown into an annual, two weeklong extravaganza that now spans genres far beyond its original remit. Such is its mythology that it has inspired some of music’s most enduring stories: Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water” was written after a fire at the Montreux Casino in 1971, which broke out during a Frank Zappa performance; Prince made the town a recurring creative home throughout the 2000s, with impromptu festival appearances and “Lavaux,” a song inspired by the breadth and beauty of the Alpine peaks. Ella Fitzgerald became a festival regular, while Miles Davis lent his name to a stretch of the lakeside promenade.
The question, then, is perhaps no longer whether the festival deserves its reputation, but how it continues to reinvent that legacy with every new generation of artists that passes through its site. Even a brief perusal of this year’s line-up will throw up names from the worlds of dance (Danny L. Harle), alternative pop and R&B (PinkPantheress, Giveon, Kwn), hip-hop (The Roots, Loyle Carner) and jazz (Marcus Miller, Charles Lloyd, Billy Cobham).
RAYE, meanwhile, kicked off proceedings this year with a curated show on July 3 billed as Moments In Time, inviting guests Alicia Keys and Mark Ronson to perform orchestral renditions of highlights from the London singer’s catalog. Its exclusivity was testament to Montreux’s unique pull: a festival powerful enough to bring global stars together for a one-off performance.
Outside of the main bill, attendees can explore dozens of free pop-up shows, while the Montreux Jazz ecosystem can be felt at almost every turn. Opposite the conference center stands a merch shop stocked with football jerseys, serving plates, Keith Haring-style art prints, flip-flops and even an eco bike. MJF-branded Porsches cruise through the streets. There is a Montreux Jazz cafe at Geneva Airport and other licensing projects are in the works. Public transport is made free in order to extend the festival’s reach into the neighboring villages, while colorful murals of the late Nobs adorn post boxes and pavement corners.
All of this serves to bring Montreux’s history into the present, as Jaton explains: “I’m so proud, honestly, that we have some Swiss journalists questioning whether what we are doing is purely that to attract a younger audience,” he says. “No, it’s not a strategy, it’s just that we have the opportunity to host some of the biggest artists that are making music today. When you have an artist like PinkPantheress recognized by The BRIT Awards as the first female act to win producer of the year, it means something. So, she simply has to play Montreux.”
Having played the previous year, and appeared at a Spotlight Sessions event in between editions, Spiro is a key ambassador for Montreux Jazz and her inclusion on the 2026 line-up is indicative of the festival’s search for new torchbearers. It is “a wild honor” to brush up against decades of musical history, Spiro explains, and even more so to be part of the 16 British acts represented at this year’s Montreux Jazz, the most of any nation from across the bill.
“British music has just something special about it, our artists have a rare kind of honesty, grit and rawness to their work,” she says. “I feel like a lot of us are true musicians too. RAYE uses a proper live band, as does Olivia [Dean] and Lola [Young]. It shouldn’t be seen as ‘old school’ as this approach is obviously really connecting with people.”
During her set at the Montreux Jazz Lab, Spiro aired her own take on the jazz standard “Autumn Leaves,” as well as a cover of Otis Redding’s “Hard To Handle,” giving two classics a fresh perspective. There was evidence of that same cross-generational connection throughout: in Kwn’s set earlier in the evening, where an attentive, near phone-free audience revealed their surprise through their facial expressions as she joked that they “didn’t realize I make sex songs”, and in Nick Cave’s rapturous performance the night before, when he shouted “F–king Montreux” in delight over and over. Younger punters attending PinkPantheress lined buses towards the venue in tartan berets and fluffy stomper boots, with their parents in tow.
Those moments – a young artist discovering the festival archives that inspired generations before them, or a secret special guest arriving in town – are what keep Montreux moving forward, Jaton affirms. He points to 2026 headliner Conan Gray as an example of the festival’s approach to booking fresh faces. While the Gen Z-beloved singer is capable of selling out arenas in other European markets, he remains a comparatively new name in Switzerland.
“When I announced Conan Gray at our press conference, people said, ‘We don’t know him,’” Jaton recalls. “Meanwhile, he sold 18,000 tickets in Paris in 10 minutes this year, and sold out The O2 in London.” Many young Swiss fans are already traveling abroad to see artists like Gray, he says, making it all the more important to bring them to a domestic audience. That may mean attracting smaller crowds as awareness builds, or putting more resources into marketing output, but, for Jaton, it is a worthwhile investment in the festival’s future. He adds: “We have to bet on the potential of a new artist each time, but I’m happy to take that risk.”
In Jaton’s view, the artists who define and expand Montreux Jazz today may not be the ones audiences expect, but the festival’s principles remain the same as they were six decades ago: create the right environment for both artists and fans, and the history will take care of itself.
“We always have to look to the future. It’s good to have the past, the history, the patrimony of Montreux – that’s essential. But it’s even more essential to think about the future and the next generation,” Jaton concludes. “So when I’m criticized for booking an act because ‘it’s not jazz’, I actually find it interesting. My answer is simple: I don’t care what you think – I know it’s right.”
