A new record was set for the 50th Monterey Jazz Festival with 45,000 tickets sold for the three days, September 21 to 23. All this in spite of rain which came midway Friday evening. The brief showers didn’t dampen spirits. Those wanting shelter came into one the several inside venues, including the large Jazz Theater where the concert was televised for those that who don’t have tickets for the outside Jimmy Lyons Stage. On the stellar program were stars who were veterans of the first- ever festival in 1958. In fact, some had appeared many times over the course of the five decades, but there were outstanding newcomers as well.

Altogether, it was a rich banquet for fans, conducive to gorging with so many acts appearing in the six locations scattered throughout the fairgrounds. A visitor was likely to be faced with some tough choices. For example, who do you see when the groups of Terrence Blanchard and Dave Holland and Cyrus Chestnut are all playing at 8 p.m. Saturday? Fortunately, most performers, besides appearing on the large Jimmy Lyons Stage, also played at one of the smaller inside halls during the three days.

To mark its 50 years, the festival brought back a handful of the players who were here for the first one in 1958: Sonny Rollins, Ernestine Anderson, Jim Hall, and Dave Brubeck—along with Ornette Coleman, who appeared in 1959. Now all in their mid- seventies and eighties, the returnees showed that they have retained their drive and skill after five decades. All turned in impressive sets.

Honoree Rollins’ rousing set with his sextet closed the festival with one of his inevitable calypso-based tunes that had the audience up, dancing and shouting. Ernestine Anderson, on the occasion of her return after 50 years, had to sit while singing. Still, she showed that she had her blues chops, drawing a lot of approving “yeahs” from fans. Also on the final evening Dave Brubeck’s quartet teamed up with Jim Hall for a thoroughly satisfying set. What the two legends may have lacked in the bravado of years past, they more than made up for in taste and finesse. Again, the capacity crowd cheered long and hard. It is great to see this kind of support.