Another full and exciting weekend of standout performances at the Monterey Jazz Festival is in the books.

Pam Marino here, happy yet a little tired after two days and three nights at the Monterey Jazz Festival. It was another successful weekend for the world’s most prestigious jazz event.

Kudos go to Darin Atwater for his first festival as artistic director of MJF, following in the footsteps of longtime director Tim Jackson. As Atwater told the Weekly ahead of the festival, he planned to fully honor its legacy, while still being innovative and offering music that would appeal to younger generations and people who love other genres that are jazz adjacent.

The theme for the weekend was “Crescendo in Blue,” which Atwater said was to “remind everyone that as a philosophy of jazz and blues, we face adversity with joy and optimism. We overcome tragedy with hope.”

The joy was palpable in many of the performances throughout the weekend. Friday night on the main stage was a burst of joy with stellar opening performances by the SFJAZZ Collective and Chief Adjuah. 

“This is heaven!” one audience member uttered as SFJAZZ Collective played their set.

Samara Joy followed the two acts with one of the best performances of the entire weekend with a voice that sounded as if it was soaring to heaven itself. 

Joy opened her set singing a cappella, and as Editor Sara Rubin observed, she gripped the arena audience with just her voice before the ensemble entered. (Last year Joy sang on the mainstage in the afternoon delivering an equally impressive performance that ensured her a top spot this year.)

Other standouts on the main stage on Saturday included the Joshua Redman Group featuring Gabrielle Cavassa (performing the best cover of The Eagles’ “Hotel California” ever), Cory Henry and The Funk Apostles and Stanley Clarke's N•4EVER. 

Hiromi wowed the main stage crowd Saturday night with her playful and energetic piano playing, truly one of the highlights of the weekend.

One of the exciting arena performances on Sunday included Mexican-American singer-songwriter Lila Downs and her band who jubilantly celebrated various regions of Mexico through song and dance. Downs also sang a jazz standard, “I Fall in Love Too Easily,” paying tribute to her late husband, saxophonist Paul Cohen. 

It was a thrill and a privilege to hear the great Mavis Staples—now 85 years old in her third MJF appearance—sing songs that ranged from gospel, blues, roots, folk and rock. Her songs last night included themes of social justice and hope, which resonated with the audience.

The smaller stages did not disappoint, and as Rubin notes, invited spontaneous dance parties. The Monophonics delivered a not-at-all-jazzy soul set with a potent brass section on Friday night, getting people out of their chairs as the evening became chilly. Other great performances on the small stages included Yuko Mabuchi, Marquis Hill and the Composers Collective and Avery*Sunshine.

The indoor Pacific Jazz Café showcased Tim Green Quartet (real underground jazz, Staff Writer Aga Popęda observes) and Christian Pepin & Orquesta Bembé, a percussion-heavy Latin jazz and classic salsa rhythms that had people spontaneously salsa dancing.

If there was a misstep it came from 2024 Commission Artist Robert Glasper, who followed Staples last night. 

As many shows did this weekend, it started late, followed by an awkward several minutes after Glasper was introduced by his DJ during which no Glasper appeared. He finally came on stage with no explanation as to why he was delayed and no apology.

Featured singer Yebba—who appealed to younger members of the audience—sang “Boomerang,” a particularly sad and violent song. Maybe the best moment of the entire set was when Mumu Fresh, the closing main stage act on Saturday night, joined in with a rap, but it was oh, so brief.

Overall, Glasper’s set felt dark, moody and disjointed, as if he never got the message about the weekend’s theme of facing adversity with optimism and hope. 

Fortunately for those festival goers who stayed all the way to the end Sunday night, they were treated to a “fantastic” performance by jazz trumpet player Keyon Howard in his second appearance at MJF, says Staff Writer Celia Jiménez. She calls the richness of sound and the range of notes Howard was able to play on his trumpet “mind-blowing.”

That’s just a small summary of what was a very full and exciting weekend. For those of you who attended MJF, what were your impressions of the weekend? 

And for those of you who have never attended, what might prompt you to buy a ticket in the future?

Newsletter

A groovin’ weekend of jazz. Hot days ahead. Equine center faces closure. Menu revolution.