Looking backwards is the default position of all jazz festivals, and Monterey is no exception. But at least the Monterey organizers have displayed some ingenuity in planning the retro side of this year’s event.

That a tribute to John Coltrane is on the schedule might normally be the occasion for not much more than a gigantic yawn, but this one is a little different. It’s actually a tribute to a single Coltrane album, and one of the more unusual entries in the Coltrane discography: his 1963 collaboration with the vocalist Johnny Hartman. It was one of a series of albums Coltrane made in the early sixties weighted toward ballads, mostly as a way to persuade the more timid or conservative listeners that Coltrane, whose music was becoming increasingly adventurous, had not abandoned the jazz mainstream. The album may not have been Coltrane’s finest hour, but it was certainly a career highlight for Hartman, a romantic baritone who spent most of his career well under the radar, and it holds a special place in many listeners’ hearts.

Kurt Elling, nobody’s idea of a romantic balladeer, is not the most logical choice to assume Hartman’s role, but at least he’s sure to give the music a distinctive stamp. Ernie Watts, a talented and versatile musician if hardly in Coltrane’s class, will be the saxophonist.

At least as interesting is the festival’s salute to another heavyweight saxophonist, Cannonball Adderley, which will include a concert by Nancy Wilson (who made a memorable album with Adderley in 1961), with Tom Scott on saxophone and Terence Blanchard on trumpet. In addition, and potentially just as entertaining, there will be a panel discussion on the subject of “the Cannonball legacy.” The panel will include Orrin Keepnews, who was Adderley’s producer for many years; John Levy, who was Adderley’s manager; and Roy McCurdy, who played drums in one of the finest editions of Adderley’s combo. Unfortunately it will also include a few people with little or no first-hand knowledge of Adderley, including Scott Yanow, surely one of the most gaseous, self-important and ill-informed of all jazz critics. (And yes, I know he has a lot of competition in those areas.) It should be worth attending anyway.

This is not to suggest that the whole Monterey Jazz Festival will be an exercise in nostalgia. Such contemporary stars as Joshua Redman, Christian McBride and Maria Schneider are on the bill, as are the perennially stimulating Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. One warning, though: If Hancock does the same mixed-bag show at Monterey that he did at Newport and JVC New York, there will be no shortage of nostalgia in his set. Also no shortage of bad vocals by guest artists who don’t belong anywhere near center stage at Monterey.