18 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY september 26-october 2, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com The Monterey Jazz Festival is a place where legends are not only born, but where they add another chapter to their storied careers. With so many acts to catch over the three days of the 67th annual festival, where do you even begin? Here’s a small sampling of the artists who will grace the stage. Ulysses Owens Jr. Ulysses Owens, a three-time Grammy Award-winning drummer, performs with his new band Generation Y, which aims to promote the talent in music conservatories in New York City and elsewhere. Training the next generation is a big component of Owens’ career. He is part of the jazz faculty at The Juilliard School and, among other things, is the artistic director for the Friday Musicale Summer Jazz Camp in Jacksonville, Florida. 5:30pm Friday, Sept. 27, West End Stage presented by Castoro Cellars Samara Joy Samara Joy is well on her way to becoming the next jazz sensation. Or maybe she’s already there. Joy made her Monterey Jazz Festival debut in 2022, and since then, the singer has won Grammy awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album, Best New Artist and Best Jazz Performance. 8:15pm Friday, Sept. 27, Jimmy Lyons Stage José James José James’ genre-bending sound seamlessly combines jazz with hip-hop, funk and rock. He’ll be presenting his 12th studio album, 1978, at the Jazz Festival, aptly named for the year in music that saw a merging of styles on the radio waves. 9:45pm Friday, Sept. 27, Jimmy Lyons Stage Monterey Jazz Festival Of Note From upstarts to icons, here’s a sample of who’s performing on the Monterey Jazz Festival’s stages. By Erik Chalhoub Above left: The audience gets into the rhythm during the 2023 Monterey Jazz Festival. Above right: Mavis Staples, whose career as a singer and civil rights activist has spanned decades, leads a lineup of gospel and R&B performances on Sunday, Sept. 29. Below: Drummer Pedrito Martinez brings Afro-Cuban folkloric music to the festival on Sunday, Sept. 29. Left: The Jimmy Lyons Stage at the Monterey County Fair and Event Center is where headliners perform throughout the three-day Monterey Jazz Festival. Crowds fill the arena during the 2023 festival. Below: The Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, directed by Gerald Clayton, showcases the jazz professionals of the future, gathering high school musicians from around the country. Celia Jiménez Celia Jiménez Celia Jiménez Myriam Santos Brenda Kenneally Of Note continued on page 20
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