All books-Store Wide Sale on Sat. Oct. 3, 2026!

Friends Members ONLY are invited to come at 9:00 AM and shop for one hour before the doors are open to the public.

The Rob Thorsen Trio presents an afternoon concert featuring Jazz standards, Brazilian music and more. This promises to be a fun high energy concert with three of San Diego's top performers. The band includes leader and bassist Rob Thorsen, pianist Mikan Zlatkovich, and drummer Nico Coto.

Jazz bassist Rob Thorsen maintains a diverse and busy schedule in Southern California as a performer, educator, clinician and composer. He has found his true voice in the upright bass and performs regularly as a leader and with artists including the Gilbert Castellanos Quintet, Holly Hofmann Quartet, Charles McPherson, Steph Johnson and a host of others.

He has released six recordings as a leader, the most recent release, "Bass is the Space - Solos and Duos" featuring an array of jazz talents including Joshua White, Steph Johnson, Gilbert Castellanos and Marshall Hawkins in duo and solo performances. Also recently released is "So In Love"', an album with vocalist Steph Johnson featuring songs from Cole Porter, Joni Mitchell, and others.

Jazz education plays an important role in his career. He teaches at Gilbert Castellanos Young Lions Jazz Conservatory, presents educational programs through the Family Arts Collaborative and the La Jolla Athenaeums "The World Of Jazz" as well as teaching privately. He is also involved with and performs with the Voices of Our City Choir, a choir created by Steph Johnson for people experiencing homelessness in San Diego.

Mikan Zlatkovich is an American virtuoso jazz pianist with a distinguished musical career. Born in Yugoslavia he became a child prodigy, first studying classical music then quickly switching to Jazz music. He became a professional musician as a teenager and over the years he has shared the stage with jazz greats such as Tony Scott, Clifford Jordan, Chet Baker, Ernie Wilkins, Charles McPherson, Louis Hayes, Gilbert Castellanos and many others.

He has successfully performed and recorded across the US and Europe spreading jazz wherever he goes.

Mikan presents a broad repertoire of songs from the great American songbook, jazz and blues standards, classic ballads, rhythm and blues, funk, bossa nova and Samba classics.

Drummer Nico Coto is currently getting his masters degree in jazz studies at SDSU. He performs regularly in San Diego with a variety of groups and styles that include Jazz, Cumbia, Brazilian, rock and pop music. He has performed with notable performers pianist Kei Akagi (Freddie Hubbard, Charlie Haden etc, Brian Levy, Gilbert Castellanos and others.

CONCERT TIPS

Arrive early to find parking and to obtain your free ticket.

Tickets are available from 1:00 PM on the day of the concert at the door to the Community Room.

Seats are first come, first served.

Additional parking is available at City Hall just west of the library.

Doors open around 1:30 PM.

The public is invited to tour the wonderful Encinitas Library branch.

Hosted by branch manager Diana Minuzzi and the Friends of the Encinitas Library, attendees will learn about the impressive role the library plays in our community, and how the Friends of the Encinitas Library (FOEL) supports all aspects of library services through its bookstore and membership support.

Please arrive five minutes early and meet inside the main entrance.

• FOEL members are encouraged to bring a friend.

• After the tour, participants are invited to visit the FOEL bookstore.

• Anyone joining the Friends then will receive a coupon for a free book.

• The first five new members will also get a free FOEL canvas book bag!

The next quarterly public tour will be Friday, January 15, 2027  11:00 AM - 11:45 AM.

Questions? membership@encinitaslibfriends.org

Featuring Kevin Higuchi on drums, Tobin Chodos on keyboards and a First Sunday favorite, Rob Thorsen on bass.

The guys will be performing a tribute to Ahmad Jamal. For the uninitiated, Ahmad Jamal (1930–2023) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader whose innovative approach to space, time, and minimalism fundamentally reshaped modern jazz. Over a career spanning more than six decades, he stood out as one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz history, earning the prestigious title of NEA Jazz Master and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Watch for these features of Jamal’s music:

The Use of Silence: He treated space and silence as active musical elements rather than empty gaps.

Tension and Release: He masterfully built dynamics, using sudden drops in volume or unexpected accents.

Orchestral Trio Framework: He arranged his trios so that the bass and drums functioned as equal melodic voices, rather than just keeping time.

Piano-Bass-Drums Format: He was among the first pioneers to popularize the modern piano-bass-drums trio structure. 

CONCERT TIPS

Arrive early to find parking and to obtain your free ticket.

Tickets are available from 1:00 PM on the day of the concert at the door to the Community Room.

Seats are first come, first served.

Additional parking is available at City Hall just west of the library.

Doors open around 1:30 PM.

Jazzgrass is an exciting band dedicated to toe-tappin’, accessible music, honoring the traditions of bluegrass, Appalachian music, Americana, and the jazz composers who have their ears attuned our rural homeland. Jazzgrass will be performing music written by Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Pat Metheny, Dave Grusin, Barnaby Finch, Natalie McMaster, the Allman Brothers, and many more… 

Jazzgrass was put together in 1999 by Barnaby Finch to honor the newer and more progressive side of Bluegrass music. He was originally smitten with the music of a short-lived all-star band, put together at the Telluride Festival, called "Strength In Numbers". Jazzgrass originally had Sean and Sara Watkins, soon to be very famous with Nickel Creek, and Kevin Hennessy on bass. Nickel Creek burst onto the scene, and that was the end of that lineup. In 2011, Barnaby wanted to perform that music again, and recruited some talented locals to play.

There's Don Reed on mandolin, dobro, and guitar. He's a famous Idyllwild virtuoso who's performed with J.J. Cale, Dick Dale, Ian Tyson, and Jackie de Shannon. There's Lily McCabe Barksdale on fiddle, a talented young lady with a gorgeous tone, who played for the Troubadours at the Ramona Festival. Also on fiddle is the virtuoso Jeremie Levi, a very popular performer in the Palm Springs area. On bass is Bill Saitta, one of the busiest musicians in the Coachella Valley, and San Diego luminary Duncan Moore on drums, who has worked with everyone around, especially local favorite Peter Sprague. Rounding out the band is veteran ace Bob Hamilton, who has a long list of credits. Pianist Barnaby Finch is the musical director, with credits ranging from George Benson, Lee Ritenour, Tom Scott, Lionel Richie, and many others.

Mr. Finch is also a lifetime member of the Friends of the Encinitas Library.

CONCERT TIPS

Arrive early to find parking and to obtain your free ticket.

Tickets are available from 1:00 PM on the day of the concert at the door to the Community Room.

Seats are first come, first served.

Additional parking is available at City Hall just west of the library.

Doors open around 1:30 PM.