The Monterey Jazz Festival is one of the longest running jazz festivals in the world and has earned a reputation over nearly seven decades as one of the most prestigious as well. This year’s edition, held September 22-24 at its longtime site of the Monterey Fairgrounds, featured a lineup with a dozen or more bold-face headliners that any festival would envy, such as Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves, Jamie Cullum, Samara Joy, Snarky Puppy, Charles Lloyd and Christian McBride. If the festival’s lineup itself wasn’t momentous enough, it was the swan song of the festival’s longtime artistic director Tim Jackson that made the event particularly resonate with the fans and the audience. After 30+ years curating the festival after succeeding founder Jimmy Lyons, Jackson announced his retirement earlier this year. Darin Atwater, founder and artistic director of Soulful Symphony, will take over as artistic director for the 67th edition of the festival in 2024.
Headliners and transitions aside, the festival has always balanced marquee names with both regional Bay area acts and student ensembles. Among the former were stalwarts such as John Santos, Tammy Hall, Sarah Wilson and Claudia Villela. The latter included the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, conducted by Gerald Clayton, the Berklee Jazz & Gender Jazz Quartet, the Texas Southern University Jazz Combo and the North Carolina Central University Jazz Combo.
Enjoy the photo gallery, above, of select performances from the festival.
The 67th edition of the Monterey Jazz Festival will be held September 27-29, 2024. Learn more here.