Six historical recordings from the Monterey Jazz Festival in Northern California are being issued as part of the fest's 50th anniversary celebration. The CDs are of a Louis Armstrong 1958 performance on the fest's inaugural night; Miles Davis Quintet in 1963; the 1964 edition of Thelonious Monk's quartet augmented by bassist Steve Swallow; Dizzy Gillespie's sextet in 1965; Sarah Vaughan in 1971; and a "Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival" sampler. Discs will be released Aug. 21 by Concord Records and Monterey Jazz Festival Records.
The six titles are the first fruit from a 10-year project in which original analog tapes have been transferred to digital files. More releases are planned for 2008.