Central Coast Getaways

Wynton Marsalis at the Monterey Jazz Festival 2009
Wynton Marsalis on stage at last year's Monterey Jazz Festival
Monterey Jazz Festival

53rd Annual Monterey Jazz Festival Presented By Verizon
Features Legendary Jazz Icons, Visionary New Artists, Classic Collaborations, International Array of Multi-Cultural Performances, September 17 – 19, 2010
 
Headliners Include Harry Connick, Jr., Dianne Reeves, Freedom Band with Chick Corea, Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride, and Roy Haynes; Ahmad Jamal, Angelique Kidjo, Les Nubians, Roy Hargrove Big Band, Billy Childs with the Kronos Quartet, Septeto Nacional de Cuba, Delbert McClinton, Trombone Shorty, Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens, Chris Potter Underground, Nellie McKay, Marcus Roberts, Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition, Gretchen Parlato, Jake Shimabukuro, Fred Hersch, and Many More
 
500 Artists to Perform on 8 Stages for 3 Nights and 2 Days of Nonstop Jazz with Tickets Available from Only $35
 Monterey Jazz Festival Fairgrounds
New Single Day Arena Tickets, Premier Access Pass, and Local’s Package Available for First Time; Family Discount Package Available from $80, Youth Tickets Only $15
 
Festival Features Debut of Harry Connick, Jr., also with Ahmad Jamal, Roy Haynes, Angelique Kidjo, Delbert McClinton, Nellie McKay, Les Nubians, Trombone Shorty, and More
 
Performances throughout the Weekend
2010 MJF Artist-In-Residence Dianne Reeves,
2010 MJF Showcase Artist Roy Haynes
2010 MJF Commission Artist Billy Childs Debuting “Music for Two Quartets”
with the Kronos Quartet

Plus,
• Friday's "New Grooves Party" featuring Brass, Bows & Beats; Nellie McKay; Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition; and The House Jacks

• Saturday's Blues show in the Arena including Delbert McClinton, Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

• Tributes to Artists including Mark Levine & the Latin Tinge “Music of Moacir Santos”; John Firmin & the Nocturne Band “Tribute to Hank Crawford, David 'Fathead' Newman and Leroy 'Hog' Cooper”; and Javon Jackson with Les McCann “Swiss Movement Revisited”
• Conversations with Roy Haynes and with Sam Stephenson of The Jazz Loft Project, plus DownBeat's Blindfold Test with Fred Hersch. 








Monarch Migration in Monterey
by Ruby Elbogen

Monarch migration to Pacific Grove, CA  The migration of thousands of Monarch Butterflies to their over-wintering arboreal homes on the Central Coast of California is a magnificent sight to behold. Driven by some imprinted primordial urge, the regal orange and black winged wonders of nature arrive, after traveling up to 2,000 miles, and stay in quiet seaside havens every year, from October until February. They loll around in habitats of delicately balanced microclimates in the canopies of sheltered eucalyptus and pine groves throughout seashore communities on California’s Central Coast, where they are welcomed, cherished and protected.
 The Monarchs hang in large clusters that resemble nondescript looking, pended piles of dried leaves, high up in the trees, primarily in San Luis Obispo County, Monterey County and Santa Cruz County, where they have the foggy mornings they need for moisture, and nectar for sustenance. Not unlike the Swallows return to Capistrano each year, places like Morro Bay, Pacific Grove and Natural Bridges, in Santa Cruz look forward to, and celebrate the return of the delicate and beautiful Monarchs every year, with great fanfare. 
 The butterflies rest in their clusters, and are difficult to discern until warmed by the morning sun, disturbed by a breeze wafting through the leaves, the distant bark of a dog, or a bird landing on a branch just a bit too close for comfort. The formerly dull looking cluster then explodes into a breathtaking frenzy of hundreds of colorful orange and black wings fluttering through the air, in a graceful ballet, rendering speechless, those who have been waiting patiently for the glorious dance to begin.
  This year’s Central Coast migration numbers have been boosted by last winter’s heavy rainfall. The extraordinary wet season produced a bumper crop of milkweed, allowing for vastly increased numbers of Monarchs. The underside of the milkweed plant is a food source, and is where Monarchs lay the eggs that morph into caterpillars, then to chrysalis before emerging as butterflies.
 In recent history, Monarchs have over-wintered in thirteen beach counties from San Diego to Mendocino, however, they have not returned to several areas undergoing major development. San Francisco is one of those places, and numbers have dramatically declined in Southern California, Sonoma, Contra Costa and Alameda Counties. Last years Thanksgiving Day count totaled 61,000 in San Luis Obispo County; 55,000 in Monterey County, 2,000 in Alameda, and just 260 in San Diego County. A sad commentary on how fragile the environment is and how over development affects our entire eco-system.
Project Monarch Alert, part of the Biological Sciences Department of Cal Poly State University San Luis Obispo, studies the ecology and population dynamics of the Monarch Butterflies in Western North America.
For more information about the Monarchs, please contact: dfrey@calpoly.edu
Pacific Grove Friends Of The Monarchs at: friendsofmonarch@aol.com
Pacific Grove Museum at: www.pgmuseum.org.  


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