‘Next Generation’ Invades Monterey March 22–25

  I  

The third annual Next Generation Festival, part of the Monterey Jazz Festival, will take place March 22–25 in downtown Monterey, Calif.

The event, devoted to the future of jazz, includes the Festival’s 37th annual National High School Jazz Competition, with big bands, combos, vocal ensembles and individual musicians competing for a spot on the stages of this summer’s 50th annual Monterey Jazz Festival.

More than 40 groups from 10 states across the country will participate in the Next Generation Festival, which represents the largest gathering of young jazz talent on the Monterey Peninsula outside of the Monterey Jazz Festival itself.

A kick-off concert will be held at Monterey’s Golden State Theatre featuring the judges from the National High School Jazz Competition and 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival artist-in-residence Terence Blanchard.

For more information, visit: www.montereyjazzfestival.org



  • Jack_DeJohnette_by_Steve_Sussman.jpg

    ​Jack DeJohnette boasted a musical resume that was as long as it was fearsome.

  • KurtElling_6.2.25_by_ElliotMandel-REV-6.jpg

    “Think of all the creative people I’m going to meet and a whole other way of thinking about music and a challenge of singing completely different material than I would have sung otherwise to my highest level in dedication to the moment,” Elling says about his Broadway run.

  • Pat_Metheny_Side-Eye_III_Jimmy_Katz.jpg

    Pat Metheny will perform with his Side-Eye III ensemble at ​Big Ears 2026 in Knoxville, Tennessee, next March.

  • Courtesy_Bobby_Bradford_GoFundMe_page.jpg

    “[That’s] the thing of the beboppers,” Bradford said. “These guys were important for not only playing that wonderful music, but they knew a sort of social stance, you see?”

    Bobby Bradford: Phoenix Rising

    It was a calm, balmy, near-perfect evening in Westwood, California, not far from UCLA, in the expansive courtyard at…

  • Esperanza_Spalding_3825_5x7.jpeg

    ​Esperanza Spalding closed an audacious Chicago Jazz Festival set with “Endangered Species.”


On Sale Now
November 2025
Gary Bartz
Look Inside
Subscribe
Print | Digital | iPad