This years lineup was stellar as usual.  I'll stick to the stuff we saw as well as our excursions away from the festival. 

We arrived in Monterey on Friday afternoon.  We flew Delta from Cincinnati to San Francisco and barely got on the flight.  There was another group of 3 people there waiting and only two seats available.  They didn't want to split up so we got to get on.  Whew!  We drove down to Monterey via Half Moon Bay and highway 1.  That's a beautiful drive.  It was a bit cloudy for our drive down but Edi took a couple of pictures out the window anyway. 
 

Friday evening the show opened with Paquito D'Rivera and the United Nation Orchestra.  He's always been a favorite of mine.  They were followed by the Zawinul Syndicate.  Friday night pictures HERE. 

On Saturday, Edi and I took a drive down to Carmel.  This is me in front of the original Thomas Kincade Gallery there.  It's a cute little building with a quaint courtyard leading up to it.  Carmel is truly one of the most charming (and expensive) places in the world.  Houses here start at $500,000 and go WAY up from there. 

We skipped the first part of the Saturday afternoon show (in favor of more time in Monterey and Carmel).  We couldn't miss the last act though.  Tower of Power absolutely drove the crowd nuts!  Well, us too for that matter.  Dave Garibaldi was back on the drums again and sounded better than ever.  Edi got to shake the lead singer's hand.  Saturday pictures are HERE. 
 
 
 

Copyright © 1998 - Varrin Swearingen