Summer brings thoughts of outdoor jazz festivals, and fans of the genre flock to places like Newport and Monterey each year to take in a variety of performances. Since 1958, the pleasant seaside town of Monterey has hosted the Monterey Jazz Festival and their vast archives of performances, ephemera, and other materials are housed at Stanford University's Archive of Recorded Sound. With substantial...

The Monterey Jazz Festival Digital Collection at Stanford University chronicles the longest running jazz festival in the world. Founded in 1958 in the seaside city of Monterey, California, the festival has hosted most of the world's great jazz players. On the home page simply click play to listen to a classic performance by Billie Holiday at the 1958 festival. Other offerings include an inspired...