Monterey Pop’s 50th anniversary, and other music festival high points of 2017.

Sixty-eight-year-old Charles Bradley shed his jacket and shirt, unearthing a sleeveless silver sequin number. Then, he hoisted his mic stand high above his 3-inch afro like the Hercules of soul music. The first day of the Monterey International Pop Festival 50-Year Celebration June 16-18, 2017, officially blasted off when Bradley & His Extraordinaires tore through a nonstop whirlwind of originals and covers under a brilliant blue afternoon sky at the Monterey County Fairgrounds.

When the “Screaming Eagle of Soul” dove into a sweat-soaked rendition of Otis Redding’s “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember,” he gave the audience – a blend of baby boomers and younger fans – a glimpse of what it may have felt like 50 years earlier, when Redding himself sprinkled his unforgettable brand of Memphis soul on thousands of awestruck ears in the very same venue. Bradley followed with Redding’s gospel-tinged “Pain in My Heart.” He closed his eyes tightly, revealing every heartfelt expression line chiseled into his face.

“Where can my baby be?” Bradley crooned. “Lord, no one knows.”

Just three months after his cosmic display of soul at its most passionate, the singer died of stomach cancer. About five months after Redding hooked the hippie generation on Memphis soul, his life ended at 26 in a plane crash.

Exactly 50 years after Jimi Hendrix ceremoniously torched his Strat at Monterey Pop in 1967, Gary Clark Jr., a guitarist born under the same moon as the original Voodoo Child, shredded the afternoon into dusk. Like Bradley, the Austin native channeled the essence of those who had graced the same stage before him. Clad with sunglasses and his trademark brimmed hat, Clark’s suede jacket, zipped tightly up to his neck, had no effect on the velocity and dexterity of his chops. Like Hendrix, Clark’s fluidity up and down his axe makes it look so easy. In addition to an extended jam of “Bright Lights,” which featured a guest spot from legendary Booker T. Jones on keys, Clark slammed his own stamp on Hendrix’s “Third Stone From the Sun.”

One unexpected treat of the 2017 Pop Fest was multi-textured folk music from the Head and the Heart. Lush harmonies, rousing violin solos and lyrics with stories of traveling across America captivated the audience. Surprise guest Michelle Phillips joined them for The Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreamin’,” a tune she sang on that same stage 50 years before. It marked another magical moment fueled by Monterey Pop’s lasting appeal to multiple generations.

There are numerous such musical moments every year courtesy of the Monterey Jazz Festival alone. This year marked the world’s longest continually running jazz festival’s 60th anniversary, and every corner of the Fairgrounds sizzled with ear candy. The Chris Thile-Brad Mehldau duet erupted inside the mainstage arena with “jazz-grass,” an unlikely yet otherworldly pairing of mandolin and piano. Most of the virtuosos’ set showcased material from their recently released gem, Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau, a blended crossover of traditional bluegrass, jazz, classical and everything in between.

In less than 10 years, the California Roots Music & Arts Festival has grown into the largest reggae-rock festival in the world. This year marked its eighth iteration, and further evidence that the three-day event at the Fairgrounds, which bustles with blue-eyed Rastas, patchouli and more ganja than Jamaica, is now an annual spring fixture on the Peninsula. Since its debut, the lineups – heavy with groups like SOJA, Pepper and Rebelution – have expanded outside the reggae-rock realm to include hip-hop (Nas), punk rock (Fishbone) and even electronica. One of the biggest electronic music names in the U.S., Thievery Corporation, made their Cali Roots debut this year, and dispatched one of the year’s most memorable local performances. TC’s Rob Garza and Eric Hilton had a crowd of 10,000-plus entranced, with a stage full of musicians who transformed electronic into organic. Sitar and percussive instruments, rounded up from across the globe, carried “Lebanese Blonde” into euphoric musical bliss.

A much smaller show, Dec. 2 at the House of the Four Winds Adobe in Monterey, deserves a spot on this list. In addition to local psych rock fave El Camino Sutra, Santa Cruz-based outfit The Shoobies served up vintage garage rock powered by gangly guitar wiz Jacob Ellzey, formerly of The Pip Squeeks. The opening trio, Pablo, unearthed heavy stoner rock powered by rib-cage-rattling riffs. The chemistry between bassist/Acme Coffee owner Larry Thurman, drummer Johnny Fletcher and guitarist Jeff Hadley is palpable. Additional elements beyond the music helped make this show notable: Cafe Lumiere’s homemade tacos, original prose from local travel writer Stuart Thornton and all proceeds benefitting Safe Place.

The aforementioned moments of local music rapture represent only a taste of a very fruitful 2017 for live music in Monterey County. There’s much more worth mentioning, including David Crosby & Friends rocking new material at Golden State Theatre in April, and Chris Robinson performing his first solo-acoustic theater gig at the Golden State. Plus, the legendary Jackson Browne played Carmel’s Sunset Center on Nov. 14 to support the arts at Seaside’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School.