Monterey Jazz Festival Ready For No. 54

Taking place at the fairgrounds in beautiful Monterey, Calif., this year’s festival also includes India.Arie & Idan Raichel, John Pizzarelli Quartet and “An Afternoon In Treme” with Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Soul Rebels, Kermit Ruffins and Glen David Andrews.

But we’re only brushing the three-day festival’s surface when it comes to who is on the lineup. The almost endless list of jazz folks also includes piano virtuoso Hiromi and the Trio Project featuring Anthony Jackson and Steve Smith.

It all adds up to 500 artists, 90 performances and 8 stages resulting in 30 hours of live jazz spread out over two days and three nights.

This year’s Artist In Residence is Joshua Redman who will perform with his band James Farm as well as solo with the Festival’s All-Star student band. The Showcase Artist is Robert Glasper and the 2011 Monterey Jazz Festival Commission Artist is pianist Geri Allen who, with her band Timeline, will perform “The Dazzler,” described as a “Jazz tap tribute to Sammy Davis Jr.”

Tickets, including Arena Package tickets, Full Weekend Grounds Tickets and the Family Discount Package, are available now. Visit MontereyJazzFestival.org for more information.