One of the Twin Cities' pre-eminent jazz pianists, composers, and educators, Laura Caviani confirms her reputation and raises the ante another notch each time she takes the bandstand. And it wouldn't be December in Minneapolis without her holiday show at the Dakota (Sunday, December 12, 7 pm). But that's not all—a week later you can hear Laura Caviani's Quintet with Lucia Newell along with the trio Soul Café in a holiday concert at the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church (Sunday, December 19^th, 7 pm). Want more? Join Laura when she helps ring in the New Year at Rossi's Blue Star with Prudence Johnson (Saturday, December 31, 9 pm).

Laura Caviani's roots are solidly in the Midwest and music. She tells about her father's barbershop quartet gigs as a student at Grinnell College in Iowa, when the young pianist was a fellow named Herbie Hancock. She received a Bachelor's of Music in Composition from Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, and a Masters of Music in Improvisation from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. With a grant from the Atlantic Center for the Arts in 1997, Caviani studied with piano virtuoso JoAnne Brackeen, and the following year was one of four American musicians selected to study in Japan at the Akiyoshidai International Art Village.  Her teaching credits include St. John's University, the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, the University of St. Thomas, the University of Minnesota, and many middle schools in Minneapolis through the "Harman How to Listen Program," an outreach project co-founded by Wynton Marsalis. As a professor at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, she has taught classes in improvisation, composition/arranging, and jazz keyboard techniques.

Caviani 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. Wrote Terry Teachout in the Wall Street Journal, "Laura Caviani could waltz into any New York nightclub and tear up the joint." Marian McPartland described her playing as "sparkling and inventive."

Known for her interpretations of Monk and her work with Soul Café, Departure Point, and Pete Whitman's X-tet, Caviani always delivers an inspiring holiday salute. Her holiday show, as well as her holiday recording, Angels We Haven't Heard (1999, Caviani Music), features Tom Lewis (bass), Phil Hey (drums), Pete Whitman (saxes/flute), Joe Cosgrove (trumpet and flugelhorn), and Lucia Newell (vocals).  Jazz radio icon Leigh Kamman (Minnesota Public Radio) noted, "this music will cheer and warm your space." In his review for the Star Tribune, Tom Surowicz noted that "this is a CD that delivers nearly as many gifts as Santa himself. You get great arrangments, bristling swing, powerful solos, timeless carols, charismatic vocals by Lucia Newell, and Phil Hey, the hippest little drummer boy in town."

Again joining Laura Caviani's Quintet for the Dakota's 2004 holiday bash will be Twin Cities' vocal diva Lucia Newell, guaranteed to add touches of Brazil and Strayhorn to the festive spirit. From Los Angeles to Mexico City to Rio de Janeiro, as well as locally at Orchestra Hall, the Artist's Quarter, and the Dakota, Lucia Newell has performed Brazilian samba, French ballads and bop melodies; she has sung with the great Billy Eckstein, the Rio Jazz Orchestra, and Oscar Castro Neves. On her latest recording, Steeped in Strayhorn, she was accompanied by Departure Point, including Laura Caviani on piano. These musicians know each other well, and their simpatico collaboration will make this a must-see holiday event.

Soul Café is a project combining music and often poetry, featuring the jazz talents of Laura Caviani, Steve Blons (guitar) and Brad Holden (sax). Recent performances have saluted the music of Rogers and Hart in combination with the poems of Pablo Neruda and the music of Thelonius Monk in conjunction with reading from the Beat poets. On December 19th, at the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church near dowtown Minneapolis ^{, the subject will be a holiday celebration when Soul Café joins forces with the Laura Caviani Quintet, again featuring vocalist Lucia Newell.}

New Year's Eve will offer many great opportunities to ring in 2005 with the best of local jazz. Countdown to midnight with Laura Caviani and Prudence Johnson at Rossi's Blue Star Room. Prudence Johnson has been wowing fans of vocal music for over 25 years, from her days with Rio Nido to her recent leadership of the Millay Project (setting the poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay to music). In between she garnered a Grammy nomination in 1992 for Little Dreamer--Lullabies for the Young and Old, covered the songs of Greg Brown, released a tribute to Hoagy Carmichael (Moon Country), and recently returned as a regular on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion. One of the Twin Cities' most popular songstresses, her appearance with Laura Caviani's ensemble promises a very jazzy New Year's Eve.

Laura Caviani's Minneapolis holiday calendar: At the Dakota on December 12 (7 pm) with her quintet and vocalist Lucia Newell (www.dakotacooks.com); at the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church on December 19 (7 pm) with Soul Café, Quintet, and Lucia Newell (612-871-5303); at Rossi's Blue Star Room on New Year's Eve (9 pm) with Prudence Johnson (www.bluestarjazz.com).