Farrell Family Jazz at the Athenaeum opens season June 14

LA JOLLA — Jazz returns to the intimate Joan & Irwin Jacobs Music Room of the Athenaeum for the library’s annual summer jazz series.
The series, which opens June 14 with the Gilbert Castellanos Quartet and special guest trumpeter James Zollar, begins the yearlong series, Night of the Cookers: Tribute to the Trumpet Masters.
Performances resume July 1 with Israeli clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen, who made her Athenaeum debut last spring. This summer she will perform with her quartet, featuring a jazz sound both modern and traditional. The Los Angeles Times wrote, “In Cohen’s hands the clarinet came alive, bursting with post-modernist improvisational transformations. Her fleet melodic articulation and driving rhythms were supported by her irresistibly charismatic presence.”
Vocalist Kendra Shank returns to the Athenaeum July 21, with Hamilton Price on bass, Gary Versace on piano, and Zach Harmon on drums and tables. Time magazine described Kendra’s voice as “warm-toned, fine-grained, quietly sexy (that) sets her well apart from the crowd, as does her knack for picking unhackneyed, slightly off-center material. The up-tempo tunes swing hard; the ballads shimmer and shine.”
The series concludes July 27 with the San Diego debut of the New York-based Edmar Castaneda Trio. The group features improvising Colombian harpist Castaneda, saxophonist Shlomi Cohen and drummer/percussionist Dave Silliman. A native of Bogota, Castaneda has been taking New York and major international jazz festivals by storm with his unique approach to Latin jazz via the traditional Colombian arpa llanera.
Seating is limited, so early reservations are advised. Call (858) 454-5872 to reserve. Series tickets: $68 members/$88 nonmembers; single concert: $19 members/$24 nonmembers. The Joan & Irwin Jacobs Music Room is at 1008 Wall St.