Our History

Established in 1958, Monterey Jazz Festival is the longest continuously-running jazz festival in the world. Since then, nearly 2,900 performances have taken place on the Monterey County Fairgrounds, with unforgettable weekends of music from iconic stars and up-and-coming artists over the course of 67 years.

1955

Where it all began

Jazz impresario and disc jockey Jimmy Lyons presents pianist Erroll Garner as an installment of his new “Jazz at the Sunset” concert series in Carmel. A confiscated bootleg recording of the show is released as Concert by the Sea and becomes one of the best-selling albums of the era.

1958

Using funds raised through $100 dollar donations, Jimmy Lyons and San Francisco Chronicle jazz critic Ralph Gleason present the inaugural Monterey Jazz Festival, October 3-5. Founded as a non-profit, performers included Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck, Cal Tjader, Harry James, and Billie Holiday, in her only MJF performance.

1962

Dave and Iola Brubeck premiere The Real Ambassadors with Louis Armstrong, Carmen McRae, and Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan. Quincy Jones and Stan Getz make their first MJF appearances.

1967

For MJF10, the Saturday afternoon blues show features T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Richie Havens, and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin. The Monterey County Fairgrounds was now internationally famous for the Monterey Pop Festival that had taken place earlier in the summer.

1970

Legendary actor and director Clint Eastwood films part of his iconic directorial debut, Play Misty for Me at the Monterey Jazz Festival.

1982

MJF25. Performers include Tito Puente, Poncho Sanchez, Gerald Wilson, Cal Tjader, Etta James, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie, and many others. Patrice Rushen, who had recently released her chart-topping hit “Forget Me Nots” returned to the festival to perform with the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, which she had been a member a decade earlier.

1992

MJF35. Jimmy Lyons retires, and Tim Jackson takes over as General Manager and Artistic Director, a position he would hold until 2023.

1997

MJF40. Now presenting music on five stages, Diana Krall, Sonny Rollins, David Sanborn, Charlie Haden, Koko Taylor, and many others are featured artists. A book, Monterey Jazz Festival: Forty Legendary Years is released along with a CD box set of archival recordings.

2007

MJF50. Artists from the first MJF include Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck, Jim Hall, Ernestine Anderson, and Buddy Montgomery. A record label is launched featuring archival and current live recordings, along with a coffee table book, The Art of Jazz. Terence Blanchard’s performance on the 50th Anniversary All-Stars Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival will win a Grammy.

2017

MJF60. Artists-in-Residence are John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton and Gerald Clayton, making them first parent-child AIR. John Clayton premieres Stories of a Groove as the MJF Commission. Performers include Common, Leslie Odom, Jr., Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and many others.

2020

The Covid-19 pandemic forces Monterey Jazz Festival to have an online event on YouTube featuring archival footage. Online donations made during the weekend are given to the artists, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

Timeless Since 1958

For over 65 years, Monterey Jazz has been committed to celebrating America’s creativity and cultural heritage by presenting legendary jazz musicians, timeless composers, and young rising stars.