The 53rd Annual Monterey Jazz Festival is coming up, this September 17 – 19!

Over five hundred musicians will be performing at the Monterey Fairgrounds in Monterey, CA for three days of nonstop music, featuring some of the world's best jazz. Tickets for the event start at only thirty-five dollars, too – so if you're going to be in the area and you love music – particularly that most American of genres, jazz – you might want to stop by! 20 acres of tree-studded grounds, eight stages, and musicians and fans mingling and enjoying themselves... good times.

But maybe, like me, you're not very close to Monterey. It's too far to drive, and you can't just whisk away from your job to a jazz fest, no matter how much you'd like to.

Well, for all of us who can't make the festival, the producers have put together a FREE playlist featuring ten artist who'll be playing this year's festival!

Ten songs, totally free – enough to give you a taste of the good times and smooth music! The playlist is available as an iTunes download, and the redemption code is there on the Monterey Jazz Festival website. Just follow our link.

All you need is an iTunes membership, and that's free, too. The songs themselves are DRM-free, and you can copy them to your iPod or mp3 player of choice (I like to use my Android phone) or even burn them to a CD. In just a few minutes, you can be sitting back with your eyes closed, listening to Billy Childs or Gretchen Parlato and imagining yourself there at the festival...

But the download code expires on October 31, so don't put this off too long. After Halloween, the playlist will be just a memory!