Athenaeum Jazz Concerts | Spring 2025 Series | Athenaeum Music & Arts Library & Scripps Research Institute | La Jolla

We are pleased to announce the return of the Athenaeum Jazz series to the Scripps Research Auditorium (10620 John Jay Hopkins Drive, north of Genesee Avenue in Torrey Pines Mesa) for two out of three concerts in our annual spring series. Seating is limited for all three evenings, so early reservations are advised. Please join us for these three special performances featuring internationally acclaimed jazz artists Omar Sosa, Bill Frisell, and Ben Wendel. For tickets and information, click below or call (858) 454-5872.

The spring series opens on Thursday, March 27, at Scripps Research with a long-anticipated local debut as a leader of acclaimed Cuban composer-pianist-bandleader Omar Sosa and his Quarteto Americanos, featuring Josh Jones on drums, Ernesto Mazar Kindelán on bass, and Sheldon Brown on sax, clarinet, and flute. Sosa is widely celebrated as one of the most versatile jazz artists on the scene today. His musical trajectory traces the African diaspora from Cuba to Brazil; from Central America to Ecuador’s African-descent communities; from San Francisco and New York to his current home base in Barcelona. True to his Afro-Cuban origins, Sosa fashions a spirited vision of uncompromising artistic generosity that embraces humanity at large. Nominated for seven Grammy awards and twice for the BBC World Music Awards, Sosa received a lifetime achievement award from the Smithsonian Associates in Washington, D.C., for his contribution to the development of Latin jazz in the United States. 

The series continues on Wednesday, April 9, at Scripps Research with the Bill Frisell Trio, featuring Frisell on guitar, Thomas Morgan on bass, and Rudy Royston on drums. Frisell’s career as a guitarist and composer has spanned more than 40 years and many celebrated recordings. Recognized as one of America’s most vital and productive performing artists, Frisell has contributed to the work of a staggering array of collaborators, including Paul Motian, John Zorn, Elvis Costello, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Rickie Lee Jones, Vinicius Cantuária, Marianne Faithfull, John Scofield, Bono, and Brian Eno, to name only a few. This work has established Frisell as one of the most sought-after guitar voices in contemporary music.

The series concludes on Thursday, April 24, at the Athenaeum with the Ben Wendel Quartet, featuring Wendel on saxophone with an all-star rhythm section of Gerald Clayton on piano, Luca Alemanno on bass, and Jonathan Pinson on drums. Grammy-nominated saxophonist Ben Wendel was born in Vancouver and raised in Los Angeles. Currently living in Brooklyn, he has enjoyed a varied career as a performer, composer, and producer. Highlights include tours, performances, and/or recordings with artists such as Terence Blanchard, Bill Frisell, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Tigran Hamasyan, Antonio Sanchez, Eric Harland, Taylor Eigsti, Linda May Han Oh, Moonchild, Louis Cole, Daedelus, Snoop Dogg, and Prince. Wendel is a founding member of the Grammy-nominated group Kneebody. His 2023 record, All One, was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category. His latest release, Understory: Live at the Village Vanguard (October 2024), features his longtime colleague, Gerald Clayton.

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