October 4, 16 & 28, 2021
7:30 PM
Athenaeum Jazz at the Scripps Research Auditorium returns to celebrate the series’ 25th anniversary! The Athenaeum presented the first three public concerts in the auditorium in the fall of 1996 with performances by Jimmy Smith, James Moody, and the TanaReid Quintet. So this fall we mark a milestone of a quarter century of concerts that have featured many of the most eminent artists in jazz. The series showcases the talents of an array of extraordinary artists: a special-edition quintet featuring Gilbert Castellanos on trumpet, Gerald Clayton on piano, John Clayton on bass, Roy McCurdy on drums, and Anthony Wilson on guitar; a rare West Coast date by critically acclaimed flutist and composer Jamie Baum; and the return of tenor saxophone giant Mark Turner. Seating is limited and early reservations are advised! For tickets and information, click below or call 858-454-5872.
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.
Monday, October 4, 7:30 p.m.—CASTELLANOS/CLAYTON/CLAYTON/McCURDY/WILSON
The series opens on Monday, October 4, with a special-edition quintet featuring Gilbert Castellanos on trumpet, Gerald Clayton on piano, John Clayton on bass, Roy McCurdy on drums, and Anthony Wilson on guitar. Castellanos has contributed to our city’s jazz scene not only as a first-call trumpeter but also as the curator of a decades-long weekly jam session and of the San Diego Symphony’s jazz series and as director of the Young Lions Jazz Conservatory. He has performed around the world with the acclaimed Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. A four-time Grammy-nominee, Gerald Clayton is widely recognized as one of the leading jazz pianists of his generation. Son of bass legend John Clayton and a member of the family’s Clayton Brothers Quintet, his career includes performances with artists including Charles Lloyd, John Scofield, Diana Krall, and Dianne Reeves. Celebrated educator, band leader, producer, and arranger, John Clayton, is widely acclaimed as one of the leading bassists in jazz, having a Grammy on his shelf and eight additional nominations. Veteran drummer Roy McCurdy’s career has included membership in the bands of the Mangione Brothers, the Art Farmer Jazztet, Sonny Rollins, and the Cannonball Adderley Quintet. Guitarist Anthony Wilson, son of NEA Jazz Master Gerald Wilson and known worldwide for his longtime membership in the Diana Krall Quartet, has received honors including the Thelonious Monk International Composers’ Award and commissions from Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The Athenaeum series has featured Wilson’s original projects since the early 2000’s.
Saturday, October 16, 7:30 p.m.—JAMIE BAUM SEPTET+
The series continues on Saturday, October 16, with a rare West Coast appearance by the Jamie Baum Septet+. This eight-piece group led by acclaimed flutist/composer Jamie Baum, features top players from New York City including trumpeter Amir El Saffar and guitarist Brad Shepik. With an over 20-year history of musical exploration, the ensemble has appeared at many of the world’s leading jazz festivals and concert halls. The Septet+’s performances at the 2018 Monterey Jazz Festival earned praise as “the most extraordinary music of the festival…" and a “revelation.” A Guggenheim and MacDowell Fellow, Baum has been on the jazz faculty at the Manhattan School of Music since 2006. She has worked with artists as renowned and diverse as Paul Motian, Randy Brecker, Dave Douglas, Fred Hersch, Roy Hargrove, Anthony Braxton and Wadada Leo Smith, appearing in the DownBeat Critics Polls annually since 1998, and making the short lists in both the JazzTimes Critics and Readers Polls in addition to several international publications. She has also received critical praise for her six albums as a leader, including four with her Septet+. Featuring instrumentation including French horn and bass clarinet, the Septet+ specializes in blending jazz improvisation with Hindu, Arabic, Jewish, Nepalese, Classical and Minimalist musical traditions. DownBeat wrote, “Four stars… Always a traveler, never a tourist, Baum constructs significant harmonic relationships between jazz and some far-flung music traditions. Everything connects here: concept and execution, soloists and ensemble, Nepal and New York, spirit and flesh.” Just Jazz commented, “Music like this truly is an essential part of the future of jazz.”
Thursday, October 28, 7:30 p.m.—MARK TURNER QUARTET
The series concludes on Thursday, October 28, with the Mark Turner Quartet, featuring Turner on tenor saxophone, Joe Martin on bass, Jason Palmer on trumpet, and Jonathan Pinson on drums. Turner returns to the series having performed on the first set of concerts in 1996 with the TanaReid Quintet, then on subsequent dates with the collective trio Fly (with Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard), with Ethan Iverson, and with Gerald Clayton. In a career that spans more than two decades, Turner has emerged as a towering presence in the jazz community and is one of the most highly-regarded tenor saxophonists in jazz. The New York Times praised him simply as “Possibly jazz’s premier player… his stature in the jazz world keeps growing... a great jazz musician.” With a distinctive tone, singular improvisational skills and an innovative compositional approach, Turner has earned a far-reaching reputation as one of jazz’s most original musical forces. As fellow saxophonist Ravi Coltrane put it, “Mark Turner is one of the most important players that has come along in the last 20 years, easily the most influential.” For this Athenaeum appearance, Turner reunites the musicians from his forthcoming release on ECM Records, a follow-up to his acclaimed 2014 album, “Lathe of Heaven.” All Music wrote, “This is deeply meditative music that defies categorization while at the same time bringing to mind such disparate touchstones as '70s Kenny Wheeler, '60s Ornette Coleman, and the lyrical '50s West Coast cool of the Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan pianoless quartet… Turner strips back layers of jazz style and language to reveal a sound that is both familiar and utterly new.”
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.
COVID-19 VACCINATION AND MASK POLICY:
Proof of vaccination or negative test within 72 hours of the performance is required.
Everyone, regardless of vaccination status, is required to wear a mask at all times while indoors.
Proof of vaccination or negative test can be presented to the ushering staff at the door when you arrive for the performance.