Athenaeum Jazz Fall 2025 Series | Athenaeum Music & Arts Library and Scripps Research Auditorium | La Jolla

The Athenaeum’s jazz program returns with a four-concert series this fall including performances in the library’s Joan & Irwin Jacobs Music Room (at 1008 Wall Street in La Jolla) and at the Scripps Research Auditorium (10620 John Jay Hopkins Drive). The series features internationally acclaimed artists and Athenaeum favorites. Seating is limited—so, order soon!

Wednesday, October 29, 7:30 p.m.—Kris Davis Trio

*AT THE ATHENAEUM MUSIC & ARTS LIBRARY*

The series opens on Wednesday, October 29, with an Athenaeum debut by the Kris Davis Trio, featuring Davis on piano, Robert Hurst on bass, and Johnathan Blake on drums. Recognized in the DownBeat Critics Poll as Pianist of the Year in 2025, 2022, and 2020, Davis has become one of the most celebrated jazz pianists of her generation. A Grammy Award–winner, she has been described in The New York Times as a beacon for “deciding where to hear jazz on a given night.” She was named a Doris Duke Artist in 2021, alongside Wayne Shorter and Danilo Perez, and Pianist and Composer of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association, also in 2021. Her 2019 album, "Diatom Rhythms," was voted jazz album of the year by both The New York Times and NPR Music’s Jazz Critics Poll.

On her latest album, "Run the Gauntlet," Davis is accompanied by the extraordinarily talented bassist Robert Hurst and drummer Johnathan Blake. “Hurst, who powered bands led by both Wynton and Branford Marsalis in the ’80s, and Blake, one of the contemporary scene’s most reliably propulsive percussionists, are both expert drivers of the beat” (The New York Times). Seamlessly melding composition with improvisation, "Run the Gauntlet" stands as a testament to Davis’s singular voice within the jazz landscape. Of the album, The New York Times commented, “The trio digs heartily into Davis’s obliquely funky vamps, uniting and diverging in turn to dazzling effect.”

Sunday, November 9, 7:30 p.m.—Anthony Wilson Nonet

*AT SCRIPPS RESEARCH AUDITORIUM*

The series continues Sunday, November 9, with the Anthony Wilson Nonet. A longtime Athenaeum favorite, guitarist-composer Anthony Wilson brings his new nine-piece ensemble to the Scripps Research Auditorium to perform music from his latest album, "House of the Singing Blossoms." Wilson has cultivated a diverse body of work shaped by long-standing collaborations with jazz greats like Diana Krall (whose quartet he has been a core member since 2001), Charles Lloyd (with whom he last appeared on the Athenaeum series in 2023), and John Clayton, as well as by the deep musical influence of his father, legendary bandleader Gerald Wilson.

Wilson launched his musical career in 1995 when he was awarded the Thelonious Monk Institute International Composers’ Award. His first album, "Anthony Wilson" (1997), featured a nine-piece “little big band” and received a Grammy nomination for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Recording. It was followed by "Goat Hill Junket "(1998) and "Adult Themes" (2000). His fourth recording with the nonet, "Power of Nine" (2006), was recognized as one of the top ten jazz albums of the year by The New Yorker. With "House of the Singing Blossoms," he returns to the nine-piece format for the first time in nearly two decades. For this album Wilson crafted lush, harmonically sophisticated arrangements with a reverence for the jazz and blues tradition that balance intricate ensemble interplay while spotlighting his nuanced compositional voice and the expressive artistry of the elite improvisers that comprise his ensemble.

Wednesday, November 19, 7:30 p.m.—Django Festival Allstars with Veronica Swift

*AT SCRIPPS RESEARCH AUDITORIUM*

Next up, on Wednesday, November 19, is a return visit by the Django Festival Allstars, who will be joined by the remarkable jazz vocalist Veronica Swift. This masterful French gypsy jazz quintet returns for its first local performance since debuting on the Athenaeum series in 2016. Step into a night that feels lifted from a Parisian café and reimagined for the 21st century. The Django Festival Allstars deliver a musical experience bursting with spirit, swing, and soul in what The Wall Street Journal calls “the best jazz show in town.”

Led by guitarist Samson Schmitt, son of gypsy jazz legend Dorado Schmitt, this all-acoustic ensemble of international virtuosos radiates joy and passion through blazing guitar riffs, soaring violin, dazzling accordion, and deep, grooving bass. They celebrate the music of legendary gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt who teamed with famed jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli in the 1930s and 40s to create the quintet of the Hot Club de France, which went on to become one of the most important jazz partnerships in history. Vocalist Veronica Swift made her local debut on the Athenaeum series in 2019 with pianist Benny Green. She is among the upper echelon of 21st century jazz singers because of her virtuosic brilliance, interpretive ingenuity, bracing songwriting, and keen arrangements. The Wall Street Journal wrote, “She has a miraculous voice, musical ability and technique, as well as an innate gift for entertaining a crowd.”

Friday, December 5, 7:30 p.m.—Matt Wilson 'Christmas Tree-O'

*AT THE ATHENAEUM MUSIC & ARTS LIBRARY*

The fall series concludes on Friday, December 5, with Matt Wilson’s "Christmas Tree-O." Described as “An ambassador of good feeling” (New York Times), drummer Matt Wilson is one of the most in-demand musicians in jazz. He presents this joyous trio project celebrating the holiday season with his own characteristically humorous and at times eccentric sendups of holiday classics. The band, now in its 25th year, features sax virtuoso Jeff Lederer and bassist Paul Sikivie. Wilson’s greatest gift is his knack for invention and the unbridled sense of fun he brings to the bandstand—a perfect combination for the holiday season. As The New York Times remarked, “Wonder and innocence, gaudiness and cheer: can it be any surprise that the jazz drummer Matt Wilson thrives around the holidays?”

Wilson’s last Athenaeum appearance was in 2020 with his Honey & Salt quintet celebrating the work of American poet Carl Sandburg, a project for which he received the Jazz Journalists Association’s designation as Jazz Artist of the Year. JazzTimes wrote, “There are a few more emphatically dazzling drummers working today, but almost nobody in Wilson’s peer group with a broader grasp of jazz or a more natural sense of time, or a stronger signature as a bandleader, or more goodwill among his fellow players.”

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