Laura Caviani is one of the area's busiest jazz performers, composers, and educators. Her formal education includes degrees from Lawrence University in Appleton, WI and the University of Michigan; study in Japan at the Akiyoshidai International Art Village; and a grant to study with another highly inventive pianist, Joanne Brackeen. She has toured with Toots Theilemans, Bob Mintzer, Dave Liebman, and Karrin Allyson, and has released four acclaimed recordings as well as appearing on a long list of CDs of local musicians. In addition to teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and leading her own trios and quartets, her current activities include the Millay Project with Prudence Johnson, Soul Café with guitarist Steve Blons and saxman Brad Holden, Pete Whitman's Xtet and Departure Point, and the Jazz MN Big Band.

You can't find Laura Caviani without finding Thelonious Monk; Monk's compositions appear on her recordings and are frequently featured in her live performances. At a recent Soul Café engagement combining the music of Monk with readings of the beat generation poets, someone asked, "Why Monk?" "Because after Ellington, Monk was the one," she replied, and then demonstrated some of the classic Monkisms of rhythm and harmony that illustrate his eccentric, inventive approach to the keyboard. Indeed, Monk's quirky behavior (many assumed he was truly crazy), individual style, and unique compositions were far ahead of the bop and post bop inventions that followed many years later. For a long time, only the most sophisticated jazz musicians, including Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane, appreciated his genius. Yet today, variations of Monk's compositions are part of the standard repertoire of jazz, from straight ahead to avant garde.

Why does Laura Caviani in particular salute Monk? Because she is also a highly inventive musician with a great appreciation and apparent understanding of the complexities of odd rhythms, dissonant harmonies, and the great opportunities that Monk's music affords clever improvisers. In both her recorded work and in live performance, Monk lives not so much in her adherence to his melodies but in the spirit of Caviani's deconstructions and re-inventions. With Soul Café last Sunday night, she led the trio through a samba-styled arrangement of "Round Midnight" and a topsy-turvy spin on "Well You Needn't"--a great preview of the upcoming Monk celebration.

Photo by Howard Gitelson
Joining Laura Caviani for this festive night will be a monster quartet, including vocalist Lucia Newell, bassist Gordy Johnson, and drummer Phil Hey. The first set starts at 7 pm, and with a cover of $7, this will be the jazz bargain of the week in Minnesota.

For information about this show, contact the