A noted teacher, composer and performer, Joan Griffith has toured and recorded as a classical and jazz guitarist, bassist and mandolinist. Head of the Jazz Studies Department at the University of St. Thomas, Joan is also a guitar and bass instructor at the College of St. Catherine, director of the MacJazz Workshop at Macalester College, and a roster artist in jazz for COMPAS, the Minnesota State Arts Board and Young Audiences.  Previously, she was a member of the jazz duo Naima with Carol Selin and also played with Bill Banfield’s B-Magic Orchestra. With Ruth McKenzie, she has presented “What Is Jazz” to public school audiences since 1988. With Lucia Newell, Joan released Enter You, Enter Love, named to the Top Ten list of recordings for 1996 by KBEM radio. 

Joan’s partner on Sambanova!, Laura Caviani earned a Masters of Music in Improvisation from the University of Michigan, studied with piano virtuoso JoAnne Brackeen, and has taught at 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 currently at Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges in Northfield. Last summer she was a guest artist/educator in residence in Cordoba, Argentina. A veteran of over 15 years of performing, recording and composing, Laura has performed with Toots Thielemans, Bob Mintzer, and Dave Liebman, toured with star vocalist Karrin Allyson, and eregularly appears with her own trio and Pete Whitman’s X-Tet. Laura has released a series of excellent recordings, most recently Going There, featuring Bob Bowman and Todd Strait. She has also composed a variety of works for regional orchestras. Of Laura, Joan Griffith notes that “I have always loved her playing, her time is impeccable, her solos are breathtaking, but most of all she always plays with her whole heart and soul and with love.” 

It seems Minnesotans have long held a fascination for the music of Brazil. For Joan Griffith, this fascination can be traced to the Getz/Gilberto recording of “The Girl From Ipanema” which she heard as a teen growing up in Nebraska. Over the years she has developed her personal fusion of the African, European and Amerindian traditions that define the soul of Brazilian music. This soul pervades the tracks of Sambanova and will flavor the warmth and passion of the music that debuts on the stage of the Artists Quarter on September 21st. This first “Jazz From J to Z Concert” offers an inspiring beginning for a season that brings a wide sampling of jazz in its rich and varied styles to the Twin Cities community. 

Tickets for Sambanova (Sunday, September 21st at 7 pm) will be available at the door for $10 ($7 TCJS members). The Artists Quarter is located in downtown St. Paul at 408 St. Peter Street in the lower level of the Hamm Building, enter on Seventh Street Place. Free on-street parking on Sundays and inexpensive parking available at the Macy’s Ramp on Wabasha north of Sixth Street. CDs will be available at the show. Article reprinted with permission from the Twin Cities Jazz Society’s Jazz Notes.