Best Venue for Jazz
Monterey County Fairgrounds
2004 Fairgrounds Road, Monterey
(831) 372-5863, montereycountyfair.com
In 1947 the famous French artist Henri Matisse created a colorful book of prints that was originally supposed to be named “Le Cirque” because of a continuing theme of featuring circus performers, but as he added new non-circus images, the title was changed to The Circus, from Jazz. The Monterey County Fairgrounds, which has hosted a lot of circuses during its long history, has also been the main location for the Monterey Jazz Festival for nearly 70 years, bringing in the best of the best in jazz annually to perform for audiences that hail from around the world. All the best jazz musicians have made historic appearances at the fairgrounds and continue to do so. If the best of the best are flocking to the Monterey County Fairgrounds, it makes sense it’s the readers’ choice for Best Venue for Jazz.