Collection Guide
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Monterey Jazz Festival Collection
ARS.0018
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Archive of Recorded Sound
Title: Monterey Jazz Festival Collection
Identifier/Call Number: ARS.0018
Physical Description:
136 box(es)
[circa 136 linear feet]
Date: circa 1955-2020
Abstract: 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 It primarily consists of unpublished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.
Physical Location: Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound,
Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94305-3076
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.
Monterey Jazz Festival Collection, ARS-0018. Courtesy of the Stanford Archive of Recorded
Sound, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
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.
The digital collection is available at https://exhibits.stanford.edu/mjf.
Database of unpublished recordings
More detailed information on individual unpublished concert recordings in the Monterey Jazz
Festival Collection can be found in the following online database for the collection
http://collections.stanford.edu/mjf.
The John and Lois Davies Collection of Monterey Jazz Festival Posters (ARS.0208) also
contains four (4) posters from the Monterey Jazz Festival.
Additional broadcast recordings related to the Monterey Jazz Festival
The Robert K, Morrison collection features recordings of the Monterey Jazz Festival
captured from KJAZ [San Francisco, CA] during the years 1977-1982. Inventory available at
this link: https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/13843553.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Jazz
Music festivals -- California -- Monterey
Monterey Jazz Festival