There are two approaches to the jazz festival concept. An event like Monterey takes a sort of smorgasbord approach: you buy one ticket, stay all day, and get a big buffet of music to choose from, all going on at once. It's a fun way to do things, but it can also be exhausting. And if you really want to listen to what's happening on stage — this is jazz, after all — it can get dicey. After 10 or 12 hours of non-stop music, especially with all the ambient noise, only the most dedicated jazz maniac can honestly distinguish one solo from another.

SFJAZZ takes the other path, running their festival as a concert series over two weeks. If Monterey is a smorgasbord, then San Francisco is a ten-course banquet. The atmosphere is a lot more formal, the cost is higher, and there's no vendor mall for window-shopping or people watching. But the music is more easily digested, each concert a fresh experience to be savored on its own merits. And with this year's powerhouse lineup covering a huge swath of the jazz spectrum, the SF Jazz Fest is sure to satisfy almost any palate.

This year's festival is packed with "can't miss" events, the most obvious being opening night. In honor of the late John Coltrane's 75th birthday, three of his most famous collaborators will assemble to show respect at Masonic Auditorium atop Nob Hill. And if any group can pay proper tribute to the master, it's this one. The pianos of McCoy Tyner and Tommy Flanagan will lead the way, combined with the deeply spiritual saxophone work of the incomparable Pharoah Sanders. SFJAZZ always seems to strike gold with all-star events at the Masonic, and there's no reason to expect any less this time.

If the Coltrane show intrigues you, don't let November 3rd escape your notice. That's a huge day at the festival with 4 shows, one of which is dedicated to the memory of Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Kirk was one of the most colorful figures in all of jazz, whether he was playing three horns at once or running off one of his serio-comic monologues. But he also had an incredible knowledge of and influence on the history of the music that is often overlooked. Setting the record straight will be an all-star sextet led by trombonist/shell master Steve Turre that's been making waves all over the country. Sax man James Carter, bassist Buster Williams, and pianist Mulgrew Miller help to round out the ensemble. This concert is one of many slated for the Herbst Theatre, across the street from City Hall.

Traditional jazz fans also get a big-name summit this year, as pianist Dick Hyman and guitarist Howard Alden re-create "A Night at Eddie Condon's." With a bunch of other ace players in tow, these cats will attempt to call up the freewheeling spirit of Condon's famous 1940's New York jam sessions. This one-time-only event will be held in the Peacock Court at the Mark (that's the Mark Hopkins Hotel for us non-natives), on the afternoon of November 4th, the closing day of the festival.

Are mega-shows too overwhelming? Don't despair. Every year the festival includes a special performance in the soothing confines of Grace Cathedral. This year's "Sacred Space" concert should be one of the highlights of the festival, a duet between cerebral saxophonist Harold Lloyd and tabla percussionist Zakir Hussain. The program will include a new work commissioned by the festival in honor of the late Billy Higgins.

Living legends and rising stars will be everywhere. At eighty years of age, native son Dave Brubeck is still going strong; his quartet will be on hand for two shows at the Masonic that are guaranteed to sell out early. Vernon Alley, a fixture on the San Francisco scene since the 1940's, will be honored with a special tribute concert and receive the 2001 Beacon Award at the Palace of Fine Arts. On Halloween, Charlie Haden's Nocturne ensemble with Joe Lovano and Gonzalo Rubalcaba will play two sets at Herbst. The next night, young lion Brad Mehldau brings his trio to Bimbo's 365 Club in North Beach. And the festival will close in style as Keith Jarrett's trio with Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums plays at the War Memorial Opera House on the night of November 4th.

Some of the more adventurous shows on the calendar include a quartet featuring the twin tenor powers of David Murray and Odean Pope at the SF War Memorial, and a double bill of top avant-garde trios featuring Terry Riley and Fred Frith at Herbst. Some improvisational fireworks should also emerge from pianist-psychiatrist Denny Zeitlin; he'll appear with Buster Williams and smiling "downtown" drummer Matt Wilson at the Florence Gould Theatre.

There will also be plenty of funky stuff on tap, including the annual Hammond B-3 organ blowout at Bimbo's, a mighty tandem of Etta James and Joe Louis Walker stoking the r&b fires at Masonic, and Latin groups led by clarinetist Don Byron and Cuban superstar Isaac Delgado.

For a more intimate vibe, the Festival is presenting some interesting duos. Pianist Kenny Barron and violinist Regina Carter will share billing with the locally based sax/bass duo of Harvey Wainapel and John Wiitala. Genre-bending guitarist Bill Frisell will perform two duet sets on October 29, one with the like-minded Greg Leisz and the other with Boubacar Traore, a guitar icon from Mali. And Joanne Brackeen will perform a solo piano concert in the marvelous acoustics of the Florence Gould Theatre.

Last but by no means least, fans of vocalists will want to check out San Francisco's own Mary Stallings, returning home after the release of her acclaimed new cd, Live at the Village Vanguard. Stallings will appear at Herbst with Eric Reed's quartet, while Davies Symphony hall will play host to Rosemary Clooney and Paula West on October 28th. The next night, cabaret superstar Bobby Short comes in with a nine-piece orchestra.

That's a lot of music, but good tickets go quickly. For more information about the schedule, purchasing tickets or the San Francisco Jazz Organization, visit their Web site at www.sfjazz.org.

When Forrest Bryant isn't writing about jazz or trying to get Thelonious Monk elevated to sainthood, he can be heard on the Bay Area airwaves as the host of a weekly jazz, world and roots-music show called "No Cover, No Minimum" (on KZSU, 90.1 FM). He also spends too much of his free time looking for things to write about, so if you're a part of the Bay Area jazz scene, drop Forrest a line and let him know what you're up to.