"Good music making is all about listening, and if you pay close attention, you can actually hear us listening to one another." - Steve Blons

Efforts to integrate the music of jazz with spiritual passions are hardly new. From Duke Ellington's Sacred Concerts to Coltrane's Love Supreme to the many weekly jazz services at local churches, from the rich gospel heritage that spawned generations of great jazz artists from Nat King Cole to Cyrus Chestnut, jazz has been a natural medium of religious expression. The merger of jazz and poetry has similarly been explored, from the presentations of the late Steve Lacy to Fred Hersch's newly released Leaves of Grass, and locally from Prudence Johnson's Millay Project to the weekly open poetry night at St. Paul's Artists Quarter. And for the past few years in the Twin Cities, jazz, poetry and spirit have found a very successful partnership through Soul Café, a project funded by the Hennepin Foundation of the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church.

Jazz Plus

One of the most unique jazz ensembles in the area, Soul Café is the imaginative collaboration of three stellar local artists, Steve Blons (guitar), Laura Caviani (piano), and Brad Holden (alto sax), who, according to Blons, meld music and spoken word "as testimony to the source of creativity." From its origins as "Jazz Meditation" duets, Soul Café has blossomed as a monthly event at the Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church, with two gigs in the past year at the Dakota.

Describing the birth of the ensemble concept, Steve Blons notes, "Sometime in 2000, Brad and I, who are both members of Hennepin Ave Methodist, were asked to offer something we called ‘Jazz Meditation.'  It was just an hour of the two of us playing while people listened and were in a reflective place.  About 18 people showed up.  The response was, ‘Let's do this again.'" At the next performance, families were encouraged to attend with children, who were given materials to play with while listening. The response again was positive, and in Fall 2001, Blons and Holden started a regular monthly series under the name Soul Café, adding poetry and intending to include guest artists in a trio format. Their first guest was pianist Laura Caviani, followed the next month by trombonist Dave Graf. With Caviani returning the following month, Blons recalls that "it was clear that the three of us had great chemistry and the trio became permanent."

Blons describes the spiritual context of Soul Café: "From the beginning, my idea was that artists had something significant to offer the church...Simply calling the evening ‘spiritual' creates a context in which all the poetry and all the music take on added meaning." 

Without bass or drum, the musical challenge for the trio has been to generate -or at least imply—the pulse. Sometimes the trio is joined by a guest artist (often vocalist Lucia Newell), but otherwise the three musicians carry the groove and are always seeking new territory to explore. Says Blons, "We began experimenting with two-part and three-part improvisation, with dropping out to leave just a duo or a solo voice.  We rehearse very little and play mostly new material each time, so our interpretations and choices are very fresh.  We enjoy the risk and adventure of this kind of music." Caviani adds, "I really enjoyed the premise of jazz and poetry coinciding in the lovely Art Gallery at Hennepin UMC. The audiences have always been simply wonderful, and each performance is unique. We almost always perform a new set of tunes with a new set of poems, depending on the theme of the event, and since both Brad and Steve know so many tunes, it's been great for my repertoire building."

Soul Café builds each performance around a theme or combination of poet and composer. Their early collaborations covered such themes as "Beauty," "Change," "Light & Darkness," and "Hope," bringing together poems and songs that seemed connected to the chosen theme.  More recent performances have celebrated combinations of poets and composers, such as "Dave Brubeck Meets Langston Hughes," "Duke Ellington Meets Billy Collins," and "Maya Angelou Meets Horace Silver."  Their summer 2004 gig at the Dakota merged Rogers and Hart with Pablo Neruda, with Lucia Newell providing both vocals and readings. In October, Soul Café combined a tribute to Thelonious Monk (a Caviani specialty) with readings from the Beat Poets—rendered with a great deal of authenticity by that refuge from the Beat Generation himself, the Artists' Quarter's Davis Wilson. A unique family-oriented night this past November included poems written by children, using kids as readers, with the musicians playing jazz interpretations of children's music.  And in January 2005, the guest artist was a painter who created art accompanying the music.  Their upcoming performance on February 20^th will again feature Lucia Newell and the theme, "Ain't Love a Kick in the Head: Songs of Love and Loss."

The Musicians

Soul Café's leader, Steve Blons (aka Dr. Jazz), grew up around jazz as the son of Twin Cities' Dixieland musician Harry Blons. After briefly studying piano, he received a ukulele from an aunt and eventually moved on to guitar.  But his father urged 13-year-old Steve to take lessons, practice, and "never play any of that Rock and Roll crap." Studying with accomplished guitarists and listening as much as he could, Blons started playing gigs at 16. But warned by his father to stay away from the life of a professional musician, he pursued other directions, earning degrees in mathematics, education and counseling, working in higher education, adoption, and conference center management.  He also earned a Certificate in Theological Studies from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. His Jewish upbringing and subsequent conversion to Christianity have given him a broadly ecumenical perspective, serving him well as a spiritual and retreat leader for families, youth, and adults, for laity and clergy.

Along the way, Blons squeezed in music, playing "jobbing" dates, corporate events, and weddings. About ten years ago, he decided to devote himself to music full-time. "I started playing more gigs, picked up some private students and landed a steady church gig.  That's been the mix ever since."  Playing with established local musicians, Blons continued to work corporate open houses, parties and receptions until the creation of Soul Café. "Playing jazz is enormously challenging," he says. "I can see now why people spend many years practicing long hours to gain the knowledge, confidence and ease that this music requires.  I often feel like the novice bull rider hanging on for dear life, hoping not to get thrown off." Blons attributes significant personal growth to his experience with Soul Café. "I revel in the joy this project has given me personally... And I have never had a relationship with musicians like I do with Brad and Laura. I have such admiration for their talent.  And we are so attuned to one another that the music has enormous freedom and playfulness." Soul Café has also provided the opportunity for Blons to collaborate with his wife, Jan Bucher, who is often the reader as well as gatherer of poems.

In addition to Soul Café, Blons recently joined forces with Michele (Jansen) MacKenzie for Jazz and the Spirit, airing on KBEM-FM (88.5) and simulcast on their website, Jazz88FM.com (every Sunday at 10am and again on Saturday at 8pm).  On the show, the hosts broadcast recordings and conduct interviews with local and national artists, such as Dave Brubeck, Paul Horn and Ben Sidran.

Laura Caviani is one of the area's busiest jazz performers, composers, and educators. Her formal education included 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, and Dave Liebman, 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, Pete Whitman's Xtet and Departure Point, the Jazz MN Big Band, and touring with vocalist Karrin Allyson, in addition to Soul Café. Caviani notes that she first met Steve Blons back in the early 80s when he was director of Koinonia Retreat Center (affiliated with Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church), where she had been both a camper and a counselor. Of her involvement in Soul Café, she says, "I've enjoyed focusing on a poem as we play a standard or a free piece...I love Steve and Brad's positive energy and their willingness to collaborate and especially their willingness to take risks."

Alto saxman and Fergus Falls, MN native Brad Holden first became interested in the saxophone after attending a junior high jazz band concert at age ten. Today he notes that "for the last twenty-eight years, the alto saxophone has been at times both my best friend and my worst enemy." The sax player at that school band concert was Mark Nelson, with whom Holden later studied and then played with in the Twin Cities. After playing in the jazz band through high school and at Fergus Falls Community College, Holden moved on to the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota where he played in jazz ensembles. Following a seven-month stint in New Orleans where he played on street corners, Holden returned to Minneapolis, playing professionally around town and studying with local legend Eddie Berger. Later he also studied with Anton Denner and had a brief encounter with "my hero" Lee Konitz. His local gigs have ranged from solos on the rooftop of the old Loring Cafe to the Twin Cities Jazz Orchestra Big Band. His current projects include Lineup, which features the music of Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz, and Warne Marsh, and of course, Soul Café. Of his bandmates, Holden says "Their ears are always open and ready to follow or lead."

Finding an Audience, Live and on Record

Soul Café has largely attracted its audience by word of mouth. Says Blons, "We're hitting some kind of nerve, satisfying some desire.  I don't think we're getting a typical jazz audience.  We have people coming who don't otherwise listen to jazz recordings or go to jazz performances.  And I don't think we're getting the folks who go to poetry readings."  On their monthly Sunday night gigs at Hennepin Avenue UMC, it is not unusual for 60-70 people to show up, and twice Blons notes they have exceeded 100.

Another route to attracting an audience is recording. Soul Café's self-titled debut CD (2003, DrJazz Music) was released a year ago at a sold-out show at the Dakota. Recorded live over six evenings, the result is a compilation of the trio's selected tracks (8 from Sunday night performances and 4 added in the studio). And a splendid collection this is—featuring inventive takes on such standards as "Yesterdays," "Smile," and "Gone With the Wind"; bold reworkings of "Giant Steps," "Blue Monk," and "Now's the Time," and a most interesting juxtaposition of the seldom heard "Strange Fruit" (narrated by local diva Charmin Michelle) with the trio's original "Strangely Enough." No poetry was recorded for the CD, but two short selections from Jelaluddin Rumi were added as the first and final tracks during final production. Says Blons, "Our next CD [for summer 2005 release] will be done live in a studio with a small audience present.  We'll present a typical Soul Cafe event and record both the music and the poetry on the spot."  

And every outing, when Blons, Caviani, Holden and guest performers pay homage to their musical and spiritual muses, is an occasion to involve their audience, "our partners, whose listening created the space and whose readings created the Yin for our Yang." Soul Café may perform in a Minneapolis Methodist Church, but the vibe of the music and spoken word transcends the boundaries of religion and culture, embodying the very freedom that defines jazz. Says Steve Blons, "It is also very compelling for people to witness art in the making.  I think we make a connection with the creative center within all of us."

Soul Café performs monthly on the third Sunday of the month at 7 pm in the Art Gallery of Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, Lyndale and Groveland near the I-94 Lyndale exit off Loring Park in Minneapolis; $10 donation suggested. Information at 612-871-5303. Next performance on December 18, 2005 at 7 pm as part of the holiday celebration with the Laura Caviani Sextet, featuring vocalist Lucia Newell.