Rodriguez Brothers Quintet
Emilio Solla and Antonio Lizana
Sean Jones; photo credit: Jimmy Katz
The Athenaeum is pleased to announce this three-concert series featuring local debuts and return visits by internationally acclaimed jazz artists. All performances take place in the library’s intimate Joan & Irwin Jacobs Music Room (at 1008 Wall Street in La Jolla). Seating is limited—so, order soon! For tickets and information, click below or call (858) 454-5872.
Sunday, June 14, 2026, 7:30 PM
Rodriguez Brothers Quintet—Miles 100: A Celebration in Afro-Cuban Jazz
The series opens on Sunday, June 14, with a local debut by the Rodriguez Brothers Quintet, who will play their own Afro-Cuban in honor of Miles Davis’s 100th birthday. Davis constantly pushed boundaries and absorbed global traditions. In this heartfelt tribute, the Rodriguez Brothers carry the tradition forward, reinterpreting the legend’s iconic works through today’s Afro-Cuban jazz language— blending Havana’s rhythmic fire with the spirit of innovation that Davis embodied. The band features brothers Michael Rodriguez on trumpet and Robert Rodriguez on piano, Carlitos Del Puerto on bass, Jimmy MacBride on drums, and Luis Conte on percussion.
The Grammy Award–nominated Rodriguez Brothers have performed at prestigious jazz festivals and venues around the world, including the Newport Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Bremen Music Festival, Jazz Baltica, Rochester International Jazz Festival, Taischung Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Blue Note New York, The Jazz Standard, and SFJAZZ Center.
The band was formed in 2002 and has released five critically acclaimed recordings which have led to worldwide performances and teaching residencies. Their album Impromptu was nominated for a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album. Their latest recording, Reunited Live at Dizzy’s Club, celebrates the band’s 20th anniversary featuring selected compositions from their pivotal recordings.
Born in New York and raised in Miami, the Rodriguez Brothers are each successful musicians in their own right. Individually, they have collaborated with legends such as Roy Haynes, Charlie Haden, Ray Barreto, Eddie Palmieri, Arturo Sandoval, Paquito D’Rivera, David Sanchez, Wynton Marsalis, Joe Locke, Carla Bley, Chick Corea, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Richard Bona, Harry Connick Jr., Christian McBride, Maria Schneider, and Quincy Jones, among others.
Sunday, June 21, 2026, 7:30 PM
Emilio Solla and Antonio Lizana
The series continues Sunday, June 21, at the Athenaeum with a local debut by the duo of Emilio Solla and Antonio Lizana. Latin Grammy–winner and six-time Grammy nominee, Argentina-born and New York–based pianist, composer, and arranger Solla teams up for his 15th album with rising-star Spanish flamenco-jazz vocalist and saxophonist Lizana. Together they have created a highly original album, El Siempre Mar, where old Argentine folk songs by foundational composers, such as Atahualpa Yupanqui and Astor Piazzolla, live together with original compositions from both Solla and Lizano. In this new take on the cantes de ida y vuelta (“roundtrip songs”), these two artists have managed to find a unique and contemporary meeting point between the music of Argentina, the south of Spain, and jazz.
Emilio Solla has been lauded for his artistry in summoning global styles and rhythms. He has performed at some of the most iconic venues in Europe, Latin America, and the United States alongside jazz and Latin legends Paquito D'Rivera, Billy Hart, Arturo O'Farrill, Edmar Castañeda, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the WDR Big Band, among others. Of Solla’s piano performances, The New York Times wrote, “The virile throb of Astor Piazzolla’s nuevo tango is omnipresent in the pianist Emilio Solla's stately pulse.”
Antonio Lizana is considered by both audiences and critics worldwide as a leading figure in the contemporary flamenco jazz field. In addition to his extraordinary skills as a composer, lyricist, and singer, Lizana is a world-class jazz saxophonist. He has performed with his quintet in venues and festivals all around the globe, including Womex; SXSW; flamenco festivals in London, New York, and San Francisco; Barcelona Jazz Festival; Shanghai Jazz Fest; and more.
Friday, August 21, 2026, 7:30 PM
Sean Jones/Billy Childs/Ben Williams
The series concludes on Friday, August 21, with a special collective of three of today’s most celebrated jazz artists: Sean Jones on trumpet, Billy Childs on piano, and Ben Williams on bass. Childs and Williams are known to Athenaeum audiences from many past performances; Jones makes his Athenaeum debut in this concert.
Sean Jones is equally adept as an ensemble member as he is a bandleader. Jones turned a six-month stint with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra into an offer from Wynton Marsalis for a position as lead trumpeter, a post he held from 2004 to 2010. In 2015 Jones was tapped to become a member of the SFJAZZ Collective. He has been prominently featured with artists including Illinois Jacquet, Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Gerald Wilson, and Marcus Miller.
Thus far in his career, Billy Childs has garnered 17 Grammy nominations and six Grammy Awards, including two for Best Instrumental Jazz Album and two for Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist. As a pianist Childs has performed with, among others, Freddie Hubbard, J.J. Johnson, Sting, Yo-Yo Ma, Renee Fleming, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chick Corea, the Kronos Quartet, Wynton Marsalis, Jack DeJohnette, and Dave Holland.
Since winning the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 2009, Ben Williams has made his mark as a producer, bandleader, arranger, and avidly sought-after bassist for heavyweights in and beyond jazz, including Wynton Marsalis, Lauryn Hill, José James, and Pat Metheny (with whom he won a 2013 Grammy for the album Unity Band). DownBeat called him “one of his generation’s finest bassists.”
The concert will be in person at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library (1008 Wall Street, La Jolla, CA 92037). 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. Priority seating will be given to Donor level members and above.
Ticket Confirmation Notice:
Your reservation is not complete until you receive an email confirmation. If you do not receive a confirmation email, your tickets have not been reserved. Please check your inbox and spam/junk folder or contact us at info@ljathenaeum.org or (858) 454-5872 to ensure your booking is finalized.
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