40 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 25-OCTOBER 1, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com FACE TO FACE Among the musicians performing at the 68th edition of the Monterey Jazz Festival is Daphne DeCarlo, age 17, who plays bass and just graduated from Monterey High School. DeCarlo is no novice, however. She participated in the Monterey Jazz Regional All-Star Ensemble program, and has gained experience as a booking manager, organizing concerts for her peers. Her love of music started early. She was 4 years old when she saw a rock band of sisters playing on Cannery Row. She was in such awe, she says, that her parents had to drag her away from the event. DeCarlo grew up going to the Monterey Jazz Festival. The first time she attended was in 2015, when she was 7, attending with her father. “The festivals always felt like a part of me,” she says. DeCarlo’s first instrument was piano, but around 2019 she started to expand her interests and began trying other instruments. She thought about drums, but eventually landed on the standup bass. Weekly: Why bass? It’s not a very showy instrument, right? DeCarlo: I think it really brings everything together, adds emotion—the low notes and the rhythmic feel of it. It has an impact on people, even if they don’t necessarily hear it. It’s also versatile, I can play so many different genres. I was in a Latin jazz group with Palenke Arts. Now I play with singer-songwriter Katherine Lavin. Another band I started recently is called Third Moon, and we play R&B. I feel with bass I can connect with anybody, through any different style of music. What were your early musical fascinations? The first jazz album that I really liked was Christian McBride’s album Live at the Village Vanguard. After this, I felt more comfortable to dive into jazz music more. My favorite artist is probably Stevie Wonder. I also really like D’Angelo because, like Stevie Wonder, he is influenced by so many genres. I guess I really like artists who have a lot of different influences. You graduated from high school in June. What next? I’m saving to attend Santa Monica College. They have a really strong film program—very hands-on. I want to create music videos. I never want to stop playing music, of course, but I also want to learn about film, because I’ve really been fascinated with music videos; I just feel like there’s a lot of different things you can do with that. I don’t want to put pressure on becoming a professional musician, but of course I’m gonna try my best to improve and make connections and see what happens, but I’m honestly happy to just keep playing with my friends, for myself. How did you find your way to the Monterey Jazz Festival Regional All-Star program? I went to the community concert and I saw the big band play, and I was amazed. I had to join it. I worked really hard the first year, and I met a lot of amazing mentors. The program has given me so many amazing opportunities and has really helped my confidence in my playing ability, putting me in the situations where I’m with people who are of a much higher caliber than me. You also serve as a booking manager for your peers at the program. It felt great to be able to help my friends and musicians in the band to play with each other. Sometimes people would reach out to me and be like, “I really want to play, but I’ve never done this before,” and I would help them reach out to other people in the band and come together and rehearse, and then be able to play. Let’s talk about what you will play and with whom at the Jazz Festival. I’m playing with the Monterey Jazz Festival Regional All Star Big Band and the Monterey Jazz Festival Regional All Star Vocal Ensemble. Favorite track you will play? From the big band, I really like a song we do called “Alone Together” because it features a lot of different instruments. It starts off with a bass intro, and then it goes into a saxophone heavy part, and then it highlights the trombones, which is really cool. And then? I’m going to go back to the jazz camp and help out as an intern next year. I play with a lot of the people that I’ve met from the Jazz Festival, and that’s what I want to do before I go back to school. Bass Hit At 17, Daphne DeCarlo is ready to take on the Monterey Jazz Festival. By Agata Popęda Daphne DeCarlo, 17, will perform at the Monterey Jazz festival as part of Monterey Jazz Festival Regional All Star project, which introduces young musicians to the genre. DANIEL DREIFUSS monterey Jazz festival LOST/ EXTRAVIADO $2,000 Reward Last Seen/ 0 ltima vez visto - Sept 16, 2025 Trafton Rd and Mc Gowan Road near Moss Landing PLEASE DO NOT CHASE. CALL OR TEXT WITH LOCATION NO PERSIGA. LLAME O ENVfE UN MENSAJE DE TEXTO Take a photo of this ad! jToma una foto de este volantel (408) 724-7241
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