Monterey Jazz announces lineup for this month’s virtual event
The lineup has been announced for this year’s “virtual” Monterey Jazz Festival.
The three-day music event runs 5-7 p.m. Sept. 25-27 on the festival’s YouTube site, and features a mix of archival footage and new performances from such acts as Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves, Diana Krall, Lila Downs, Kenny Barron and Regina Carter.
“I’ve worked hard to assemble exciting archival performances by some of your favorite Monterey artists as well as new and exclusive performances and interviews,” says Tim Jackson, the festival’s artistic director. “While I’ll miss seeing you in person this year, I look forward to connecting with all of you during our virtual weekend together.”
The festival is free to watch on Youtube, but donations will also be accepted, with proceeds supporting the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund as well as the featured jazz artists.
“We recognize that jazz comes from the heart of Black culture, and during these volatile times where America is facing its legacy of racial injustice, we asked ourselves what the Monterey Jazz Festival could do to support the Black community,” says Colleen Bailey, the festival’s executive director. “Our historical legacy has always been to serve as a platform for artists to share social justice messages, and now we can be a platform for artists as well as the organizations that are on the front line of this important work.”
Here are the daily virtual lineups:
SEPT. 25
• Herbie Hancock
• Dianne Reeves
• Roy Hargrove & RH Factor
• Terri Lyne Carrington — Mosaic Project
• Christian Mcbride & Inside Straight
• Jamie Cullum
• 2020 Monterey Jazz Festival Artist-in-residence, Christian Sands
• 2020 Next Generation Jazz Orchestra Directed by Gerald Clayton
SEPT. 26
• Diana Krall
• Tribute to Dave Brubeck — Cannery Row Suite with Kurt Elling & Roberta Gambarini
• Kenny Barron Trio
• Regina Carter
• Our Native Daughters — Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell
• Clint Eastwood in Conversation, hosted by Tim Jackson
• Berklee Institute of Jazz & Gender Justice Quintet -Founder & Director-terri Lyne Carrington
• 2020 Next Generation Women in Jazz Combo Directed by Katie Thiroux
• 2020 Next Generation Jazz Orchestra Directed by Gerald Clayton
SEPT. 27
• Tribute to Quincy Jones, “The A&M Years,” with Hubert Laws and Valerie Simpson
• Sonny Rollins Tribute featuring Jimmy Heath, Joe Lovano, Branford Marsalis and Joshua Redman
• Anat Cohen Tentet
• 2012 MJF on Tour with Musical Director Christian Mcbride and Dee Dee Bridgewater on vocals
• 2018 MJF On Tour with Musical Director Christian Sands and Cécile Mclorin Salvant on vocals
• Gerald Clayton Quartet
• Angela Davis in conversation with Terri Lyne Carrington
• Lila Downs
• 2020 Next Generation
Jazz Orchestra Directed by Gerald Clayton
In addition, Siriusxm Real Jazz channel 67 will broadcast a daily onehour show featuring content from the Monterey Jazz Festival archives, at 8 p.m. Sept. 21-24. These broadcasts will be hosted by jazz pianist Christian Sands, who is the 2020 Monterey Jazz Festival Artist-in-residence.
There will also be socially distanced festival watch parties at the Monterey County Fairgrounds (the home for the festival), which will be hosting “drive-in style” viewing events at 5 p.m. on the first two nights. Following the festival screenings, people can stick around to watch movies starring longtime Monterey Jazz supporter Clint Eastwood. The film “True Crime” will be shown on Sept. 25 after the regular festival screening ends, with “Play Misty for Me” to follow in that same time slot on Sept. 26.