Spotlight on Melody’ with the Mary Louise Knutson Trio and Randy Sabien....

Among the top echelon of a rich pool of Twin Cities’ pianists, Mary Louise Knutson is highly respected for her commitment to composition and teaching as well as her broad range of performance skills. A modern mainstream artist who celebrates melody without being confined by it, Mary Louise was one of five finalists in the first-ever Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Piano Competition, held at Kennedy Center in 2005. On Feb. 28, at 2 p.m., Mary Louise and her acclaimed trio (bassist Chris Bates and drummer Jay Epstein) join forces with special guest, violinist Randy Sabien, for a “Spotlight on Melody” at the Bloomington Center for the Arts, co-presented by the Twin Cities Jazz Society as a “Jazz from J to Z” concert.

After graduating from the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music (Appleton, Wisc.), Knutson cut her performance teeth with such notables as Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby McFerrin, Dianne Reeves, and Slide Hampton; and toured with Smokey Robinson, the Osmond Brothers, and Engelbert Humperdinck. She toured Italy with Debbie Duncan, with whom she continues to perform regularly. A former jazz instructor at Carleton College, today the Wisconsin native conducts master classes and plays with the JazzMN Big Band. But her skills are most apparent with her own trio, playing her own compositions and arrangements. Her 2001 recording, Call Me When You Get There, was described as “state-of-the-art piano trio finery” by Jazz Times and includes two compositions that won awards from Billboard Magazine.

Violinist Randy Sabien has been praised by Billboard Magazine as “a swinging and technically impeccable heir to the tradition of Venuti, Grappelli and Stuff Smith.” Starting off on drums and then trained as a classical violinist, his focus changed upon hearing Stephane Grappelli. Enrolling at the Berklee College of Music in 1977, within a year Sabien had founded and was leading the school’s jazz string department. Noted USA Today, “Jazz violinists usually draw from one of two traditions. The best of both can be found in the superb Randy Sabien... he combines classical technique and folk energy in a program that’s still strictly jazz.” In 1989, Sabien returned to the Midwest and founded his own label, Fiddlehead Music. Based in Hayward, Wisc., he continued to perform in all genres, appearing often on Prairie Home Companion. In 2009, he was named Chair of the new Strings Department of McNally Smith College in St. Paul.

Notes Mary Louise, “I’ve worked with violinist Randy Sabien many times over the years and have always enjoyed and admired his playing. I played violin for eight years growing up and made one attempt at playing jazz violin—I tried to imitate Stéphane Grappelli from a recording—and immediately gave up! The jazz lines sounded so good, but seemed so contrary to the instrument. Everything was flatted, whereas most of the string music I had learned was written in sharp keys. So, I really appreciate Randy’s expertise and finesse on the instrument and look forward to sharing the stage with him in February.”

Why “Spotlight on Melody?” Mary Louise notes that many people complain that “no one sings or plays melody anymore, that there’s a lot of musical gymnastics going on, extra frills and decorations that ultimately render the melody unrecognizable.” Thus on Feb. 28, Knutson and her trio will “put melody center stage... As a pianist, I interpret the standards from a place of respect for the original melody. I know that the composer went to a lot of work to create a meaningful line, so, while I may put my own frame around it—perhaps give it a new harmonic or textural treatment – I still remain true to the melody. And, as a composer, my goal is to write melodies that are accessible, yet interesting to both the casual listener and the jazz enthusiast.”
The “J to Z” series concert “Spotlight on Melody” will be held Feb. 28 (2 p.m.) at the Bloomington Center for the Arts (1800 Old West Shakopee Road).
http://www.tcjs.org/content/view/105/2/

Mary Louise Knutson at Great River Jazz Fest, La Crosse, Wisconsin -- August 2005