The collection contains the archives of the Monterey Jazz Festival from 1958 to the present. It primarily consists of unpublished recordings and videos of festival concerts, interviews and panel discussions in various formats, including sound tape reels, sound cassettes, videotapes, and sound discs, many of which are also available as digital sound and video files. Also included are a variety of recordings received with the collection that are not recordings from the festival itself, but instead feature content connected to the festival in some way, such as studio recordings of artists who performed at the festival, demo tapes for artists wishing the perform at the festival, or various recordings relating to festival founder Jimmy Lyons in some way. Some books, photographs, posters, programs, and other miscellaneous papers can also be found in the archives. The collection adds material every year.

During its first twenty-five years, the Monterey Jazz Festival established a rich history and accumulated a sizeable body of important recordings featuring the most significant jazz musicians of their time. In 1984 the festival considered placing the tape recordings in the care of an established archive where they would be preserved in a secure and climate-controlled environment, cataloged, and made available for reference and research. Two years later, archivist Barbara Sawka accepted the collection for Stanford, and over subsequent years the festival continues to add each year's performances to the Stanford archive. As a whole, the festival's collection documents one of the premiere jazz institutions in the world, comprising over 1,500 sound and moving image recordings of live performances and interviews. A brief reflection of the Festival's first fifty years reveals the place of this archive as a rich resource in the study of jazz and jazz history.

136 box(es) [circa 136 linear feet]

Property rights reside with repository. Publication and reproduction rights reside with the creators or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Head Librarian of the Archive of Recorded Sound.

The media recordings in the Monterey Jazz Festival Collection and related documents, such as posters and programs, may only be accessed onsite at the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound. Archive staff can also direct you to additional material related to the festival and several published recordings of Monterey Jazz Festival performances that are currently available in libraries or for purchase.