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.  Read more »