60th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival Report 2017
Sonic nirvana awaits!
Show Report By Joe Kubala

  My first article regarding the Monterey Jazz Festival was published following the 2014 event here on Enjoy the Music.com. In it, I made the point that I was surprised to see so few audiophiles in attendance. In subsequent events, have been equally disappointed, though I did meet a few more than previous years. So I've have timed this article to encourage participation this year (tickets are still available!). The 2017 Monterey Jazz Festival special 60th anniversary concert events are being held from September 15th through the 17th at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California.

This will be the 60th Jazz Festival in Monterey, a significant episode in the long list of historic events for this annual happening. While the lineups are strong from year-to-year, the 2017 event offers an outstanding mix of legendary acts along with up-and-comers with talent that cannot be ignored.

Highlights
Some highlights of performs appearing at the 2017 Monterey Jazz Festival include:
Herbie Hancock
Kenny Barron Trio
Regina Carter
Jimmy Heath
Joe Lovano
Brandon Marsalis
Joshua Redman
Gerald Clayton
Chick Corea
Roy Hargrove

In addition, there will be conversations (interviews) with Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Jimmy Heath which are always entertaining, informative and inspiring.

As jazz music lovers, we cannot ignore the draw of such an assemblage of talent that will be on display over the three day, eight-stage weekend event. As audiophiles, we often comment that the sound of a well-performing stereo system is "just like being there." Having now attended four Monterey events, I can promise you that the sound provided on each stage will offer a level of quality that will awe us.

One of the traditional comparisons we make is to the sound of an acoustic instrument, un-amplified, into a real space (Think of an orchestra in Carnegie Hall/ Harry Pearson and The Absolute Sound). No one can argue about that circumstance as a true reference.

As I mentioned in my last article, we are often disappointed in the sound provided by amplified sound reinforcement systems at many live rock, pop and jazz events we may have attended. I can assure you that you will leave Monterey feeling surprised and impressed with the sound quality. So much so, that you will not even think about anything but the music while in attendance. Is that not the real goal of our personal systems?

Having been inspired to attend, here are some details that may help you.

Tickets
Visit this link and you will find daily tickets available for grounds or arena. Grounds tickets get you into the event for all but the arena (seven stages). Arena tickets get you into the arena (reserved seats) and to all the other stages as well. So buy one or the other, but not both.

Travel
You can fly to Monterey Airport thru Los Angeles and San Francisco, or fly to San Francisco and drive about two hours to Monterey.

Other Things To Do
Music begins about 6:00pm on Friday, and 3:00pm on the weekend so you do have time to do something before arriving at the fairgrounds. Some of the more popular pastimes are Fisherman's Wharf, Pebble Beach Golf Links, 17-Mile Drive, Monterey Bay Aquarium, shopping in Carmel, or visiting Point Lobos State Park.

As you can probably surmise, attendance will prove to be a memorable event. So much so, that you will probably conclude you would like to attend annually as I have. There is time to make it happen. Hope to see you there!

Previous Monterey Jazz Festival Reports

60^th Monterey Jazz Festival 2017, 57^th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival 2014, and 49^th Monterey Jazz Festival 2006.