Jazz Police - Laura Caviani Trio at the Dakota, April 15th

She’s been busy leading the Friday night jazz series at Crave in The Galleria, performing monthly with Soul Café, holding down the piano bench for Pete Whitman’s X-Tet and teaching in nearby Northfield at both Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges. But now it’s time to relax after filing income taxes when Laura Caviani puts her signature elegance where it shines best, with her trio, back at the Dakota Jazz Club on Tuesday night, April 15th. Her similarly minded compatriots will be bassist Chris Bates and drummer Jay Epstein.

Raised in the Midwest where she studied trumpet as well as piano through high school, Laura Caviani 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, she 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. Laura’s teaching credits include St. John's University, the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, the University of St. Thomas, the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin-Steven’s Point, and many middle schools in Minneapolis through the "Harman How to Listen Program," an outreach project co-founded by Wynton Marsalis. Currently she is on the music faculties of both Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges in Northfield, and was a guest artist/educator in residence last July in Cordoba, Argentina.

Chris Bates©Andrea Canter

Caviani is a veteran of over 15 years of performing, recording and composing, including appearances with Toots Theilemans, Bob Mintzer, and Dave Liebman, and touring and recording with star vocalist Karrin Allyson. As a leader she now has five acclaimed recordings to her credit and a long list of supporting roles with local musicians. Recent projects include her tributes to Horace Silver and Thelonius Monk, the Millay Project with Prudence Johnson, Soul Café with guitarist Steve Blons and saxman Brad Holden, Pete Whitman’s Xtet and Departure Point, the Jazz MN Big Band, numerous appearances with vocalist Lucia Newell and guitarist Joan Griffith, and curating the Friday night series at Crave. As a composer, she has created numerous works for jazz ensembles and orchestral works for the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra and the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra. Laura has released a series of excellent recordings, most recently Going There, featuring Bob Bowman and Todd Strait. “Full of warmth and a swinging sense of fun” (Bob Protzman), Going There charted high on jazz radio following its debut. [Click here for a Jazz Police review]. Watch for a new release with Joan Griffith, Sambanova, due out later in 2008.

Chris Bates, with his brother, drummer JT, grew up with jazz, sons of trumpeter/bandleader Don Bates. Chris began bass lessons in 4th grade and progressed to jazz studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire before returning to the Twin Cities to study with Anthony Cox. A member of the Motion Poets, Framework, Low Blow, How Birds Work, Red Planet and the Kelly Rossum Quartet, Chris is also an accomplished composer (he was a 1999 McKnight Composer Fellow).

Drummer Jay Epstein is seen all over the Twin Cities, often in the company vocalists (Christine Rosholt, Connie Evingson) and top instrumentalists (Bill Carrothers, Gordy Johnson, Benny Weinbeck, Mary Louise Knutson, Laura Caviani). He had a long-standing gig with the Phil Aaron Trio at the Hotel Sofitel in Bloomington, and released a highly acclaimed recording, Long Ago. He is also a member of Main Time, Framework and Red Planet.

Whether you want to celebrate the end of winter or a tax refund, April 15th is a night to relax with some of the best jazz in the Midwest. Come to the Dakota and kick back with the Laura Caviani Trio, beginning at 7 pm, cover only $5.

The Dakota is located at 1010 Nicollet Mall, downtown Minneapolis; www.dakotacooks.com. Visit Laura Caviani on the web at www.lauracaviani.com