2003 Monterey Jazz Festival

After the All Stars were done, the Crusaders came out and played.  Joe Sample recalled old times as they played several favorites.  The Sunday evening show started off with a tough decision: see the first two Arena acts or hit the garden stage.  I had a particular interest in what was going on at the garden stage so we skipped Dave Douglas and Nnenna Freelon (who we heard was great) and took in the Bill Berry Tribute and the Steve Smith - Mike Zilber Group instead.  The tribute featrued several of the MJF favorites including Paul Contos who co-directed the All Stars along with Bill for years.  Betty was there sitting in the front row and several of the band members expressed their appreciation for Bill.  Closing the evening out at the garden stage was the Steve Smith - Mike Zilber group.  Unfortunatley, the crowd dwindled down to just a few people.  The rest of them missed out on some stellar playing, though occasionally a bit 'out there'.  Rhythmically, though, Steve kept the band right on track through the whole set.  His playing was a highlight of the festival for me (and there were a *lot* of great drummers there other than Steve: Jeff Hamilton, Terri Lyne Carrington, Mark Walker, etc. etc.).  We scooted over to the Arena to catch the final act there:  Herbie Hancock.  His show featured an interesting assembly of musicians, notably Terri Lyne Carrington on drums and Bobby Hutcherson on vibes (Scott Colley rounded out the quartet on bass).  Musically it was, well, interesting.  In typical Herbie style, he pushed the envelope a bit.  All in all, though, there was some great playing.

Another year of great Monterey Jazz thus ended.  I'm glad I got a chance to go.  And, as always, I can't wait 'til next year!