Chase Morrin Trio to play at Encinitas Library

The Chase Morrin Trio will perform everything from jazz classics to original compositions at the Encinitas Library on Sunday, Jan. 8 at 2 p.m.

“It’s a very special opportunity for us to get together and play music as a trio,” said Chase Morrin, an assistant professor at Berklee College of Music and a Carmel Valley native. “Some of the songs that we’ll be playing are going to be original music that we’ve never performed before and that’s never been recorded, that I’ll be recording next year. So we’re going to be doing some premieres of some new material that has never been performed publicly before.”

He added, “It just feels special to be back home with friends, family, and to see what’s happening in the music scene in San Diego.”

Morrin fell in love with music when he was 8, after his parents bought him a keyboard from Costco. Since then, he graduated from Canyon Crest Academy in 2011 and attended Harvard, the New England Conservatory and the Global Jazz Institute at Berklee.

The Chase Morrin Trio consists of Morrin on piano, Naseem Alatrash on cello and George Lernis on percussion. The group came together in 2019 and have played in multiple venues throughout Boston.

Morrin played a lot in Encinitas over the years, and said the library offers “a great atmosphere” for next month’s show, which will pay homage to jazz greats such as Bud Powell, Thelonius Monk, in addition to the band’s original work.

“It’s going to be a mixture of half and half,” Morrin said. “Half jazz standards, some of the traditional repertoire, and then half original compositions that are featuring my new music and music that represents global jazz, which is sort of a movement and a program I’ve been involved with back in Boston that is respecting the jazz tradition but bringing in influences from around the world.”

The Chase Morrin Trio will also be recording its first album next month.

“This will be the first album I’ve released in five years, so I’m very excited about that,” Morrin said. “It’s going to be featuring a bunch of people from all around the world who come from different traditions, not just the jazz tradition, but others like the Arabic traditions and Greek traditions, lots of different things.”

Morrin said he’s also driven by music’s potential for social activism. Panamanian pianist and composer Danilo Pérez has been one of his role models in that regard.

“I’ve seen it in action with what he’s done in Panama and other places, and I want to continue pursuing that type of thing with projects that are trying to help kids through education and bring music to places that could really benefit from it,” Morrin said.

The Encinitas Library is located at 540 Cornish Drive. For more information, visit encinitaslibfriends.org.