VARIOUS ARTISTS

Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival, Highlights, Volume 1

2007-11-12

Founded in 1958 and still going strong today, the Monterey Jazz Festival is the longest consecutively running music festival in history. This disc is part of a series of releases the festival is just-now producing, after mastering live tapes that have remained in the festival vaults for many years. The set moves from Satchmo, the very first headliner of the very first MJF in 1958, to recent work by Pat Metheny. Miles and Monk shine (of course), but my favorite is the entry by Dave Brubeck (#7), full of the signature time changes he's made famous. Diana Krall's solo is also notable for the song's composer, Clint Eastwood, who makes a comment on the performance after the song ends. Hopefully, we'll also add other gems from this new series that will focus on one artist. 11/07 MJVD J-Roots

Quick Links:

• Monterey Jazz Festival site
• More on the new series of MJF recordings