By Taylor Jordan

The Monterey Jazz Festival has always been about much more than music.

Since its inception, the festival has effectively balanced presentations by premier performers and stylish staging of fine, commercial and even wearable arts. It has annually offered intellectually stimulating conversations by such distinguished jazz journalists as festival co-founder Ralph Gleason at the beginning and Orrin Keepnews this year who sat on a panel with Gleason's son Toby and others sharing anecdotal tales.

Legendary saxophonist James Moody, left, and artist-in-residence trumpeter Terence Blanchard create magical moments as Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary All-Stars.

As identified in Gerald Wilson's 2007 commissioned composition "Monterey Moods," there's a certain ambiance that draws people to the festival year after year. If one comes once, one comes again. Always.

Souls connect at Monterey, passionately painting vastly diverse people with the universal brush of the common language of jazz. Everyone finds solace and excitement in the music of Monterey because jazz dismantles differences.

Even rain drenching fans for the first time Friday night and second time Saturday didn't dampen the magic of Monterey's golden moments.

It didn't seem possible that the festival's golden outing could musically surpass its awesomely magnificent 49th celebration. And it didn't.

There was the mysteriously unanswered question of why queen of musical mediocrity Diana Krall was the only female main-stage soloist instead of quality queens and genuine divas DeeDee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, Nnenna Freelon, Lizz Wright, Ernestine Anderson or Angelique Kidjo.

Many wondered about the choice of Los Lobos and Brit James Hunter for the arena's blues show. Were B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Etta James, Keb' Mo', Shemeika Copeland, Charlie Musselwhite, Dr. John, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Rod Piazza or Mavis Staples not available?

"Saturday afternoon in the arena celebrated White people playing the blues without cultural context and giving us the blues," charged longtime Monterey fan Moody Law. "There was nothing phenomenal musically about the blues set. It was disappointing."

There were, however, hundreds of other reasons the 50th annual Monterey Jazz Festival, presented by Verizon, achieved even more historical meaning than it already possessed as the world's oldest continuously running jazz festival and one of the best on the planet.

Topping this year's list of great performers were terribly talented trumpeter Terence Blanchard, octogenarian genius Gerald Wilson, rollickingly rhythmic and sizzling saxophonist Sonny Rollins and peerless pianists Dave Brubeck, Benny Green and Kenny Barron.

While we're noting exhilarating entertainers, add the wickedly surprising hot licks by organist  Atsuko Hashimoto. She defied the cultural divide and, with titillating tenor Houston Person and damn-good drummer Jeff Hamilton, slam dunked the Hammond B-3 organ blowout and tipped fans' feelings toward her and focused less on organ king Joey DeFrancesco.

Young guitarist Gary Clark Jr. and former Howlin’ Wolf saxophonist Eddie Shaw eliminate the generation gap with rousing, improvisational duets in the honeydripper All-Stars Blues set on MJF’s garden stage.

One must mention and memorably retain Nnenna Freelon's melodically dramatic vocals which enhanced the perfect MJF 50th Anniversary All-Stars set featuring Blanchard, Green as music director, sax legend James Moody and rhythm timekeepers Kenrick Scott on drums and Derrick Hodge on bass.

While the all-star Saturday night set was delicately delicious and Wilson's "Monterey Moods" moving and tasty, the Honeydripper All-Stars served garden stagers a heaping helping of down-home blues that afternoon.

The happening set was too crowded for people to have much room to dance, but that didn't stop hip shakers, arm wavers and seat scooters burned by the musical heat of Howlin' Wolf saxman Eddie Shaw, slamming pianist Henderson Huggins, honking harpist Arthur Williams, great guitarist Gary Clark Jr., dynamite drummer Lester Jordan, throw-down bass player Lafayette Gilbert and vocalist Mable John (sister of the late great Little Willie John).

The music all over the Monterey County fairgrounds was mostly good. How good was a matter of individual talent and taste.

However, tireless Terence was unequivocally the festival's MVP.

The New Orleans trumpeter took his artist-in-residence role more seriously than anyone else in past years. He was busy all year - assisting teens competing for performance slots, mentoring them musically and headlining pre-festival concerts.

Patrons at the fall festival were repeatedly treated to Blanchard.

He conducted the emotionally evocative and super-sensitive "A Tale of God's Will: A Requiem for Katrina" with the MJF Chamber Orchestra, rehearsed and played with the next General Jazz Orchestra of talented teens and led his own quintet in a tight, intimate set on the nightclub's Bill Berry Stage.

Amazingly, his lips and high-note skills were still intact Sunday night when he occupied center stage in the arena and Dizzy's Den with equally off-the-hook incredible cohorts in the MJF 50th Anniversary All-Stars. Hands grew sore applauding Blanchard's pristine performances.

Wilson, Brubeck, Rollins, singer Ernestine Anderson, guitarists Kenny Burrell and Jim Hall and bassist Dave Holland are master musicians who, like fine wine, only become better with time. In the jazz spotlight for decades each, they still make people sigh, squirm and shout.

Multi-instrumentalist, bluesman and sociopolitical composer Otis Taylor held fans attention on both the Arena’s Jimmy Lyons Stage and the grounds’ garden stage for MJF’s blues day.

Using the enthusiasm of toddlers Nora Jones, Richard Barrett-Wood, Robert Wood and Tye Sutherland, preschooler Tricha Daubert-Dequit and adolescent Solenne Besson as the measuring stick, there will be no future fan shortage.

These children quickly adapted to the Brazilian jazz rhythms so ably taught by master percussionist Carlinhos Pandeiro de Ouro, a cultural treasure whose legendary career was launched at age 14 when he appeared in the classic film "Black Orpheus."

With only 30 minutes of instruction, the tiny musical revelers strutted around the festival grounds, joyously mimicking Carlinhos' beats and melodies.

"He's planting seeds that will be musically harvested in a few years," claimed KUSP-FM's Latin jazz disc jockey Brett Taylor, smiling.