From upstarts to icons, here’s a sample of who’s performing on the Monterey Jazz Festival’s stages.

The Monterey Jazz Festival is a place where legends are not only born, but where they add another chapter to their storied careers.

With so many acts to catch over the three days of the 67th annual festival, where do you even begin? Here’s a small sampling of the artists who will grace the stage.

Ulysses Owens Jr.

Ulysses Owens, a three-time Grammy Award-winning drummer, performs with his new band Generation Y, which aims to promote the talent in music conservatories in New York City and elsewhere. Training the next generation is a big component of Owens’ career. He is part of the jazz faculty at The Juilliard School and, among other things, is the artistic director for the Friday Musicale Summer Jazz Camp in Jacksonville, Florida.

5:30pm Friday, Sept. 27, West End Stage presented by Castoro Cellars

Samara Joy

Samara Joy is well on her way to becoming the next jazz sensation. Or maybe she’s already there. Joy made her Monterey Jazz Festival debut in 2022, and since then, the singer has won Grammy awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album, Best New Artist and Best Jazz Performance.

8:15pm Friday, Sept. 27, Jimmy Lyons Stage

José James

José James’ genre-bending sound seamlessly combines jazz with hip-hop, funk and rock. He’ll be presenting his 12th studio album, 1978, at the Jazz Festival, aptly named for the year in music that saw a merging of styles on the radio waves.

9:45pm Friday, Sept. 27, Jimmy Lyons Stage

Joshua Redman

Joshua Redman has recorded nearly two dozen albums and performed with many in the worlds of jazz and beyond. And to think it might have never been: After graduating from Harvard University, Redman had been accepted to Yale Law School. He took what was supposed to be a year off to move to New York, but five months later, he won the Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition in 1991. The rest is history.

1:50pm Saturday, Sept. 28, Jimmy Lyons Stage

Hiromi

Hiromi’s musical career began when she started studying piano at the age of 6. She’s since released 12 studio albums, has appeared alongside Stanley Clarke (among many others) and was a featured performer during the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony in 2021. Her style has been described as evolving with every album, and her latest, Sonicwonderland, draws heavily on the sound of funk.

6:45pm Saturday, Sept. 28, Jimmy Lyons Stage

Jason Moran

Pianist Jason Moran is the Monterey Jazz Festival’s 2024 artist-in-residence, and he’ll be seemingly everywhere throughout the three-day event, performing alongside various other artists on different stages. He will also sit down with historian Ashley Kahn to speak about the 125th anniversary of the birth of Duke Ellington on Sunday, Sept. 29.

Pedrito Martinez

Hailing from Havana, Cuba, Pedrito Martinez is described as a master of Afro-Cuban folkloric music and the batá drum, having played, sung and danced in dozens of Cuban rumba groups. Recently, Martinez performed with Eric Clapton and was named Jazz Percussionist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association.

3:30pm Sunday, Sept. 29, West End Stage presented by Castoro Cellars

Mavis Staples

The name says it all. Mavis Staples’ career as a chart-topper and civil rights icon is difficult to condense into a brief paragraph. She’s been inducted into both the Blues and Rock and Roll Hall of Fames, marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and collaborated with countless musicians of all genres. At 85, Staples keeps on singing what’s in her heart.

6:45pm Sunday, Sept. 29, Jimmy Lyons Stage

Robert Glasper

Pianist Robert Glasper’s career has spanned everything from live touring to film scoring, crossing over many genres. He has earned 12 Grammy Awards, and his success has seen him sought out by other big-name artists, including Kendrick Lamar, where he played keys on “To Pimp A Butterfly.” As the 2024 Commission Artist, he’ll premiere a new song at the festival. Glasper will be joined by singer-songwriter Yebba.

8:15pm Sunday, Sept. 29, Jimmy Lyons Stage