The Art of Jazz: Monterey Jazz Festival/50 Years by noted music and culture writers Keith and Kent Zimmerman celebrates the historic images created to promote and memorialize the festival. It captures the Monterey Jazz Festival experience through posters, program covers and rare photographs dating back to the first festival in 1958. The artwork is by such famed jazz interpreters as Eldon Dedini, Ron Grauer, Fernando Batista, Jerry Takigawa, Harry Briggs and Earl Newman. With a foreword by legendary actor and filmmaker Clint Eastwood, this is a decade-by-decade look at the jazz world and the Festival, explored through art and essays reflecting on its history and the music it spawned.

Released in celebration of the Monterey Jazz Festival's fiftieth year, The Art of Jazz is an intriguing companion piece to the festival's in-depth history, Monterey Jazz Festival: Forty Legendary Years by William Minor, published in 1997 by Angel City Press. The Art of Jazz is punctuated by striking photographs of legendary musicians important to the history of the festival such as Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Tony Bennett and of course Dizzy Gillespie. These are joined by images of new legends Diana Krall, Joshua Redman, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Christian McBride, Al Jarreau and many more. In addition,

The Art of Jazz lists every artist who has appeared at Monterey since its inception. The Art of Jazz is a tribute to both the musical artists who have performed at Monterey Jazz Festival and to the visual artists who have commemorated it.