The Monterey Jazz Festival (MJF) har vært avholdt årlig i september i Monterey , California siden 1957 .
I 1959 åpnet Cal Tjader Modern Mambo Quintet den andre Monterey Jazz Festival for anerkjennelse av publikum (NB: Den første Monterey Jazz Festival var en økonomisk fiasko. Tjader er kjent for å ha økt billettsalget for den andre. Festivalen og for dermed å ha spart økonomisk den da den ennå ikke hadde startet).
Denne festivalen inviterte noen av de store navnene i Jazz, blant dem Cal Tjader , Louis Armstrong , Miles Davis , Thelonious Monk , Dave Brubeck , Pat Metheny , Sarah Vaughan , Bola Sete , Sonny Rollins , Joe Henderson og Dizzy Gillespie .
I 2007 ble en serie plater som presenterer de minneverdige konsertene til festivalen lansert.
I 2020 avbrytes av COVID-19-pandemi .
Billie Holiday , Louis Armstrong og hans stjernestjerner, Dizzy Gillespie , Ernestine Anderson med Gerald Wiggins , Cal Tjader Sextet, John Lewis , Shelly Manne , Art Farmer , Milt Jackson , Gerry Mulligan , Harry James Orchestra, Sonny Rollins , Dave Brubeck Quartet, Buddy DeFranco , Shelly Manne & His Men, Max Roach , Modern Jazz Quartet , Lizzie Miles , Benny Carter , og andre ...
1959Headliner: Count Basie Orchestra med Joe Williams , Oscar Peterson , Cal Tjader , Sarah Vaughan , Earl "Fatha" Hines , Jimmy Witherspoon , Woody Herman & the All Stars med Ernestine Anderson , Charlie Byrd & Zoot Sims , Lizzie Miles , Ornette Coleman & Orchestra , og andre ...
1960Duke Ellington Orchestra, Jon Hendricks med Miriam Makeba , Clarence Horatius "Big" Miller , Odetta , Jimmy Witherspoon , Louis Armstrong All-Stars, John Coltrane Quartet, Modern Jazz Quartet , Julian "Cannonball" Adderley , Ornette Coleman Quartet, Jimmy Rushing , André Previn Trio og Helen Humes ...
1961Duke Ellington , Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, Dave Brubeck Quartet, John Coltrane Quartet w / Eric Dolphy & Wes Montgomery , Carmen McRae , George Shearing Quintet, Odetta og Jimmy Rushing .
1962Louis Armstrong All-Stars, Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, Carmen McRae , Dave Brubeck , Gerry Mulligan Quartet, Stan Getz Quartet, Quincy Jones & Monterey Jazz Festival Orchestra.
1963Carmen McRae , Miles Davis Quintet, Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, Dave Brubeck Quartet , Herbie Hancock , Thelonious Monk Quartet, Jon Hendricks , Harry James Orchestra, Jimmy Witherspoon , The Andrews Sisters & the Gospel Song, og Helen Merrill , Joe Sullivan .
1964Duke Ellington Orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, Miles Davis Quintet with Wayne Shorter , Herbie Hancock , Ron Carter & Tony Williams , Gerry Mulligan , Thelonious Monk Quartet, Lou Rawls , Joe Williams , Woody Herman , Art Farmer Quartet og Big Mama Thornton .
1965Louis Armstrong All-Stars, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie Quintet with Mary Stallings , Cal Tjader Quintet, John Handy Quintet, Clark Terry , Earl "Fatha" Hines , Harry James New Swingin 'Band with Buddy Rich , Anita O'Day , Mary Lou Williams og Ethel Ennis .
1966Duke Ellington Orchestra, Count Basie Orchestra, Dave Brubeck Quartet, Don Ellis Orchestra, Gerry Mulligan , Cannonball Adderley Quintet, Carmen McRae , Big Mama Thornton , Jefferson Airplane , Jimmy Rushing , Muddy Waters Band og Charles Lloyd .
1967Headliners for 10 - årsjubileet: T-Bone Walker , BB King , Richie Havens , Clara Ward Singers , Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, Modern Jazz Quartet , Ornette Coleman Quartet, Carmen McRae , Earl "Fatha" Hines , Richie Havens og Big Brother & Holdingselskapet med Janis Joplin .
1968Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, Count Basie Orchestra, Oscar Peterson Trio, Modern Jazz Quartet , Cal Tjader Quintet, Mel Tormé , BB King , Muddy Waters , Billy Eckstine , Big Mama Thornton og George Duke Trio with Third Wave.
1969Miles Davis Quintet med Wayne Shorter , Chick Corea , Dave Holland & Jack DeJohnette , Thelonious Monk Quartet, Sarah Vaughan , Joe Williams , Cannonball Adderley Quintet, Roberta Flack & Her Trio, Sly and the Family Stone og Buddy Rich Band.
1970Duke Ellington , Modern Jazz Quartet , Cannonball Adderley Quintet, Joe Williams , Johnny Otis Show m / Little Esther Phillips og Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson , Woody Herman Orchestra, Buddy Rich Orchestra, Ivory Joe Hunter , Sonny Stitt & Gene Ammons .
: Clint Eastwood skal skyte en del av filmen Play Misty for Me "på festivalen i 1970, hvor lydsporet i stor grad er jazz.
1971Dave Brubeck Quartet, Oscar Peterson Trio, Sarah Vaughan , Carmen McRae , Erroll Garner , Jimmy Witherspoon & Friends, John Handy og Mary Lou Williams .
1972Modern Jazz Quartet , John Hendricks , Jimmy Witherspoon , Cal Tjader Quintet, Thelonious Monk , Sonny Rollins Quartet, Joe Williams , Herbie Hancock Septet, Quincy Jones Orchestra og Roberta Flack .
: "Roberta Flack vekket MJF i 1972 og fremførte tittelen" The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face . "
1973Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, Carmen McRae , Bo Diddley , Dee Dee Bridgewater , Pointer Sisters , Buddy Rich , Clark Terry , Jon Hendricks , Milt Jackson og Max Roach .
1974Dizzy Gillespie , Sarah Vaughan , Cal Tjader , Jon Hendricks , Mongo Santamaría , Clark Terry , Bo Diddley , Anita O'Day , Big Joe Turner , James Cotton Blues Band og Jerome Richardson .
1975Dizzy Gillespie Quartet med Cal Tjader , Etta James , Bobby "Blue" Bland , Betty Carter , Blood, Sweat & Tears , og Sunnyland Slim .
1976Dizzy Gillespie , Jon Faddis , Clark Terry , Cal Tjader Quintet, Paul Desmond Quartet, Jimmy Witherspoon , Bill Berry Big Band , Toshiko Akiyoshi / Lew Tabackin Band , Helen Humes , Heath Brothers , Eje Thelin Quartet, Gerald Wilson , Queen Ida and the Bon Zydeco Band Time.
197720-årsjubileums headlinere Cal Tjader , Joe Williams , Benny Carter , George Duke , Tito Puente Orchestra, Horace Silver Quintet, Gerald Wilson og The Neville Brothers .
1978Dizzy Gillespie , Albert Collins , Kenny Burrell , The Hi-Lo's , Billy Cobham , Bob Dorough , Dexter Gordon Quartet og Ruth Brown / Tony Cook.
1979Diane Schuur , Joe Williams , Aaron Neville , Sonny Stitt , Richie Cole , Flora Purim , Red Mitchell , Scott Hamilton , Earl King , Stan Getz Quintet, Helen Humes , Woody Herman , The Buddy Rich Band, Woody Shaw Quintet og James Booker .
1980Sarah Vaughan , Cal Tjader Quartet, Freddie Hubbard Quintet, Manhattan Transfer , Big Joe Turner og The Dave Brubeck Quartet.