Athenaeum Jazz returns to the Scripps Research Auditorium! The Athenaeum hosted the first three public concerts in the auditorium in the fall of 1996 and presented fall and spring series each year in the hall through 2019. Construction adjacent to the auditorium made it inaccessible for most of the past four years, so we are thrilled to announce a long-awaited return to this pristine acoustic space.
The Scripps Research Auditorium is located at 10620 John Jay Hopkins Drive, north off of Genesee Avenue and just east of North Torrey Pines Road, easily accessible from I-5. Parking is available next to the hall.
The fall series showcases the talents of three extraordinary artists who have given unforgettable performances on past occasions in the hall: today’s leading jazz violinist, Regina Carter; brilliant Trinidad-born trumpeter Etienne Charles; and piano maestro nonpareil Brad Mehldau.
The series opens on Sunday, September 17, with the violin and piano duo of Regina Carter and Xavier Davis, who last performed on the Athenaeum series in 2005. Hailed as the foremost jazz violinist of her generation, Regina Carter’s quest for beauty combined with her passion for excellence did not escape the attention of the MacArthur Foundation, which awarded her a prestigious “genius grant” fellowship. She is also a recipient of a Doris Duke Artist Award, has been named an NEA Jazz Master, and is a three-time Pulitzer Prize jurist. She tours worldwide with her own group and has appeared with such performers as Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Barron, Ray Brown, Mary J. Blige, Chucho Valdés, Billy Joel, Dolly Parton, and Omara Portuondo.
Carter has a very special musical relationship with pianist Xavier Davis, with whom she has performed since 2004. Featured on more than 50 albums, Davis is a virtuoso in his own regard who has performed and recorded with artists including the legendary Betty Carter, Freddie Hubbard, Tom Harrell, Christian McBride, Stefon Harris, Abbey Lincoln, Wynton Marsalis, Don Byron, Nat Adderley, and Nicholas Payton, among others. Carter and Davis have an electric connection on stage and their duo program has been called a “simpatico merging of two great musical minds” in “near-telepathic communication” (Twin Cities Pioneer Press, 2018).
The series continues on Sunday, December 10, with Trinidad-born trumpeter-percussionist-composer Etienne Charles, who made his Athenaeum debut in 2018. He returns with his Creole Christmas program for the holiday season. Hailed by the New York Times as “an auteur” and by JazzTimes as “a daring improviser who delivers with heart-wrenching lyricism,” according to DownBeat, “Charles delivers his ebullient improvisations with the elegance of a world-class ballet dancer.” He has received critical acclaim for his exciting performances, thrilling compositions, and knack for connecting with audiences worldwide. In October 2022 he had the singular honor of composing and performing San Juan Hill, an original piece for jazz sextet and the New York Philharmonic for the opening night of the newly renovated Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.
Perhaps more than any other musician of his generation or of Eastern Caribbean origin, Charles brings a careful study of myriad rhythms from the French, Spanish, English, and Dutch–speaking Caribbean to his music. With Creole Christmas, Charles has crafted a program of vividly reimagined holiday songs from Caribbean, American, and European traditions, such as “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” all imbued with a decidedly funky edge and brought to life by the trumpeter’s superb sextet.
The series concludes on Thursday, February 8, with pianist Brad Mehldau in his first Athenaeum appearance since 2015. A favorite Athenaeum jazz artist since his local debut on the library series in 1999, Mehldau returns to perform one of his trademark adventurous, exquisite, and wide-ranging solo concerts. One of the most lyrical and intimate voices of contemporary jazz piano, Mehldau has forged a unique path, which embodies the essence of jazz exploration, classical romanticism, and pop allure. From critical acclaim as a bandleader to major international exposure in collaborations with Pat Metheny, Renée Fleming, Chris Thile, and Joshua Redman, Mehldau continues to garner awards and admiration from both jazz purists and music enthusiasts alike.
His forays into melding musical idioms, in both trio (with Larry Grenadier on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums) and solo settings, has produced brilliant reworkings of songs by contemporary songwriters, like The Beatles, Cole Porter, Radiohead, Paul Simon, George and Ira Gershwin, and Nick Drake, alongside the ever-evolving breadth of his own significant catalogue of original compositions. With his self-proclaimed affection for popular music and classical training, “Mehldau is the most influential jazz pianist of the last 20 years” (New York Times) and “universally admired as one of the most adventurous pianists to arrive on the jazz scene in years” (Los Angeles Times).
The concerts will be in person at Scripps Research. There are no physical tickets for these events. Your name will be on an attendee list at the front door. Doors open at 7 p.m. Seating is first-come; first-served. These events will be presented in compliance with State of California and County of San Diego health regulations as applicable at the time of each concert.
Masks optional. If you have a fever, cough, or flu-like symptoms, please stay home.