Saturday, 12:30 p.m. — The Fairgrounds Now that the frantic pace of Friday night has been left behind, Saturday afternoon offers the first real chance to walk around at leisure and soak in the atmosphere of the Monterey Jazz Festival. Gigantic outdoor parties are always fun, of course, but there’s something special about the atmosphere [...]
A few snapshots from the 54th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival
Friday, 9:30 p.m. — The spirits of departed Bay Area jazz legends Eddie Marshall and Ron Stallings loom large over a strong set by Santos and his no-nonsense crew.
Friday, 8:00 p.m. — Sung’s trio performance at the Coffee House Gallery stage is tightly coordinated and dynamic, powering through bop grooves and prancing through delicately constructed original compositions.
Friday, 6:30 p.m. — Robert Glasper’s trio sets the tone for the 54th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival with a set that’s soulful, gentle, yet deliciously complex.
Like the song says, “checking in at Monterey” is better than almost anything. But covering a festival this busy has its challenges too.
The Jazz Observer is back, and what better way to relaunch than with a trip to Monterey? It’s time for the 54th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival, and once again I’ll be on the scene with live reports throughout the weekend.
The 53rd annual Monterey Jazz Festival has come and gone in a blur of activity and excellent music. While it will most likely be remembered for its New Orleans flavor — with Harry Connick Jr.’s face adorning all the advertisements and Trombone Shorty’s incredible sets creating the biggest buzz — MJF/53 was also notable for [...]
Ahmad Jamal was fired up. Closing out the Monterey Jazz Festival’s headline program in the Arena on Sunday night, Jamal came blazing out of the gate and never looked back, striking boldly and aggressively with a muscular quartet that was fully in sync.
The Fred Hersch Trio presented jazz mastery of the highest order in their debut set at the Monterey Jazz Festival, calmly enfolding the hotbox room known as the Coffee House Gallery in layers of complex interplay, sweeping romanticism and uplifting grace.
As Harry Connick, Jr. wrapped up the fourth song of his Monterey Jazz Festival debut — a sultry, almost pained reworking of the Beatles’ “And I Love Her” — a group of female voices shouted in unison from the right side of the Arena: “We love you, Harry!” A second group, on the opposite side of the venue, answered instantly in squealed agreement. Hold on a moment; is this 2010 or 1990?
Making her Monterey debut on a hot Sunday afternoon, world music superstar Angelique Kidjo cranked the temperature up even further with funky vocal romps and balmy pan-African rhythms, getting the Arena crowd up on its feet and dancing the day away.
