Waltzing Matilda

Talib Kweli @ Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland July 4th 2009, originally uploaded by Tilly Cooper.

The Montreux Jazz festival has become famous for being the music haven situated in such a pretty part of Europe you almost imagine the landscape and cows getting jiggy with it too. So nowadays, the fans who make the annual pilgrimage to this fab spot can expect it all - jazz, pop, rock, latin and other festival-worthy genres, not to mention the chart-worthy names who undoubtedly understand that it's the one fest that'll tranform even the most half-baked tour intinerary.

The inclusion of hip-hop night is no less indicative of the event's top credentials, and the first weekend was a pick 'n' mix of underground rappers who, despite their lack of commercial kudos, dazzled the crowd with their various sets.

First up was MXX Allstar, a Wu-styled Swiss collective who rapped in French, but with the enthusiastic bravado of their English-speaking predecessors. As a warm-up act, they tried their darndest to keep the crowd entralled with their theatrics and frontman switchovers, and while they received a few cheers at best, this was only by virtue of them being on stage at an early 8:30pm.

When Black Milk made his arrival around 10pm, you'd think he was the headline act judging by the rapturous response to joints like "Give the Drummer Sum" and "Hold It Down". He was definitely an engaging figure, even paying tribute to Jackson, but he left any OTT flourishes to his simple band. That said, he proved a hard act to follow, and despite charismatic displays from Phonte and Big Pooh of North Carolina's Little Brother who were the third act of the night, Black Milk just usurped them to the award for best showmanship of the night.

Nevertheless, Little Brother worked the crowd with their old and new gems, and while the crowd seemed slightly oblivious to their international reputation as the best things out of the south of U.S.A, Phonte was more than happy to give them the LB 101, and throwing in a hilarious tribute to MJ in the process.

Last but not least was Talib Kweli, the 11th hour fill-in for Mos Def who was scratched off the schedule with little explanation. But the other half of Black Star put on a strong set, considering his admission that he'd only been called in 2 days prior to the show. A live band might have been a nice addition though, as his DJ wasn't quite enough to keep his moment on stage enjoyable enough to prevent many revellers slipping out of the venue to catch some of the other shows taking place that evening. But he still managed to cap off a brilliant hip-hop weekend that definitely lived up to the Montreux hype.