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Ron Carter Foursight Quartet will perform on Monterey’s Ray Drummond West End Stage the evening of Sept. 25.
(Photo: Adam Cantor)The Monterey Jazz Festival celebrates its 69th year at the Monterey Fairgrounds Sept. 25–27 with a blockbuster lineup featuring a host of “firsts” and a new theme, “Only in Monterey.” Highlights include “For Miles,” a historic, first-ever duo set by bassist Ron Carter and pianist Herbie Hancock honoring their former employer Miles Davis in his centennial year; a festival debut by singer-songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello, who premieres her Monterey-commissioned work, America 250, to commemorate our nation’s two-and-a-half-century mark; a 60th anniversary performance by the Charles Lloyd Quartet of its legendary, million-selling live recording at the 1966 festival, Forest Flower; plus a new program featuring artist-in-residence Ambrose Akinmusire and others called “Monterey Surprise,” which this year celebrates musicians who played the first Monterey Jazz Festival in 1958.
The 2026 lineup was assembled by a new team consisting of consultant Jason Olaine, who also programs Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York; adviser Gerald Clayton, longtime director of the festival’s Next Generation Jazz Orchestra; and festival managing director Bobbie Young.
This year’s celebration highlights the uniqueness of Monterey. Programs like the Hancock-Carter reunion, Olaine stressed, “are not going to happen anywhere else. If you’re there, you’re there. And if you’re not there, you’re going to wish you were.”
Patrons can buy tickets that include the main arena and four fairgrounds stages or the fairgrounds only (including simulcasts from the main stage). Either way, they will be hard pressed to choose between overlapping sets. The main arena, the Jimmy Lyons stage (named for the festival co-founder), features Wynton Marsalis in his final Monterey appearance with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (he is retiring from J@LC). Cécile McLorin Salvant sings on that show and also offers her own set. Ravi Coltrane nods to the 100th anniversary of his father, John Coltrane, who played the 1960 Monterey Jazz Festival.
The Garden Stage, newly named for retired artistic director Tim Jackson, features trombonist Nick Finzer’s tribute to J.J. Johnson; the fascinating, Monk-inspired young pianist Isaiah J. Thompson; and another Miles tribute featuring the Gregory Hutchinson Quartet, which this year released Kind Of Now–The Pulse Of Miles Davis. Clayton plays in that band and also appears with Lloyd and on the 1958-themed “Monterey Surprise” show, which, he said, will nod to “Sonny Rollins and Max Roach and Dizzy and Louis and Dave Brubeck … that’s what’s so great about Monterey. Everybody’s been there.”
The Garden stage also offers a more robust round-up of student groups than in the past, fitting for a festival that highlights jazz education as a mission.
“They spend a week with me preparing this repertoire,” explained Clayton. “I thought, ‘Why don’t you all just play?’”
Another outdoor fairgrounds venue, the West End Stage, is now named for late bassist Ray Drummond, affectionally known as “Bulldog,” whose had family roots in Monterey and who served for years as a judge at the festival’s student focused Next Generation Jazz Festival. Ron Carter Foursight Quartet headlines there on Friday night, and on Saturday the stage hosts the “Bulldog Jam” featuring a roundup of festival bassists. The West End stage came to life during COVID, when indoor performances at Dizzy’s Den were put on hold. Last year, programming returned to Dizzy’s, but now it’s back outside.
“I was at the West End stage the year Emmet Cohen and Chris Potter and Nate Smith were there (2022), and that turned out to be my favorite stage,” said Olaine. “It has intimacy and power and it’s right there in a super communal space on the lawn near the food vendors and arts and crafts.”
The West End stage also features festival debuts by Mariachi Herencia de Mexico (paired with a surprise jazz improviser) and hip young alto saxophonist Patrick Barley, who heads up the legendary evening jam sessions at the nearby Hyatt Hotel. There will be no shortage of saxophonists, with Alexa Tarantino and Melissa Aldana also onboard. Brian Blade, part of the Charles Lloyd quartet, plays at the West End with his Fellowship Band, as do pianists Joey Alexander and Kris Davis (with Robert Hurst and Johnathan Blake), Akinmusire and the Bad Plus, who are on their farewell tour.
The festival’s cozy indoor stage, the Pacific Jazz Café, showcases another newcomer, Emmanuel Michael, playing in an innovative duo with fellow New Yorker Veronica Leahy on saxophone.
“Emmanuel has just made everybody’s ears perk up,” said Clayton. “He’s found something new on the guitar.”
Also at the café, in a twist on a longtime DownBeat tradition, Tim Jackson and current artistic adviser Gerald Clayton participate in a “Dual Blindfold Test,” challenging each other to identify and analyze cuts from jazz albums. In addition, the indoor stage hosts nimble bassist-vocalist Katie Thiroux, a Coltrane tribute by fiery saxophonist Isaiah Collier, vocalist Michael Mayo and all-star trios led by bassist Linda May Han Oh and cellist Tomeka Reid.
The Courtyard Stage, nestled in the fairgrounds food court, has expanded its coverage to showcase a wider variety of acts, as well as sponsored shows by local businesses.
“The idea was to embrace restaurants and clubs in the community that are presenting jazz year round,” said Olaine.
The community — and the world — appears to be returning that embrace. Ticket sales have rebounded, said Olaine, after a rocky slump following Jackson’s final festival in 2023. His 2024 replacement, Darin Atwater, was let go after a year. He was succeeded by interim director Bruce Labadie, founder of the San Jose Summer Jazz Fest, with whom Olaine served as a consultant. Olaine and Clayton, who both played the festival as high schoolers, seem to be enjoying their bicoastal collaboration.
“Gerald is turning me on to people in L.A. And, of course, I’m here in New York,” said Olaine. “There’s a lot of love between Monterey and Jazz at Lincoln Center. There’s a symbiosis.”
Clayton agreed: “I’m thrilled to be contributing to the festival in this capacity. I have always felt like part of this family.” DB
Wilson’s ability to connect to audiences helped her to win two Grammy awards and multiple other accolades. She was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2022.
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