Minneapolis-based pianist and composer, Mary Louise Knutson, has been called "one of the most exciting and innovative artists to happen to jazz piano in quite some time." Her warm, inviting tone, broad range of emotional expression, and distinctive compositions have brought her much recognition on the national music scene. Knutson's debut jazz trio CD, "Call Me When You Get There," charted in the Top 50 in the United States and Canada for eight consecutive weeks and earned her the award for "Top New Instrumentalist of the Year" from KWJL Radio, Palmdale, CA. Its 10 tracks feature her award-winning compositions and signature arrangements of such jazz classics as "Green Dolphin Street", "Gone With the Wind", and "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face" and range from the joyful lyricism of "Call Me When You Get There" to the impassioned blaze of "Meridian". Knutson's latest trio CD, In the Bubble, ranked in JazzWeek's Top 10 and remained on the chart for 19 weeks straight. It is also available at CDBaby.
Knutson tours regularly with trumpeter Doc Severinsen and his big band, has also toured the U.S. with her own group, the Mary Louise Knutson Trio, and Italy with vocalist Debbie Duncan. She has performed with such jazz greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby McFerrin, Dianne Reeves, Kevin Mahogany, Nicholas Payton, Bobby Shew, Richie Cole, Greg Abate, Von Freeman, Slide Hampton, Mike Stern, Peter Erskine, Billy Hart, Ed Shaughnessy, and Richard Davis. As a show player, she has performed with Reba McEntire, Jordin Sparks, Michael Bolton, Trisha Yearwood, Sam Moore, Donny Osmond, Smoky Robinson, the Osmond Brothers, and more.
In 2006 Knutson was a Minnesota Music Awards nominee for both Jazz Artist of the Year and Pianist of the Year, and in 2005, she was a Finalist in the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Pianist Competition. In 2004, Knutson was the recipient of Lawrence University's distinguished Nathan M. Pusey Alumni Achievement Award for significant contributions and achievements in a career field.
An acclaimed composer, Knutson has won numerous awards, including two from Billboard magazine for her compositions "How Will I Know?" and "Meridian." "How Will I Know?" was also recorded by Prince's horn section, the Hornheads, for their 5 Heads Are Better Than 1 release on Bone 2 B Wild Music.
Formerly an instructor in jazz piano and improvisation at Carleton College, Knutson teaches privately and conducts a variety of master classes, including Intro to Composition, Freedom From the Written Page: Beginning Improv for Pianists, Jazz Piano in the Big Band: Voicings, Rhythms, and Scales, The Press Kit, and History of Jazz Overview: A Timeline of Styles & Recordings. Her newest master class, Making Sense of Jazz, for non-musicians and/or budding enthusiasts, explores improvisation and typical song forms, as well as explains how jazz musicians communicate on stage.
Knutson can be heard regularly with her group, the Mary Louise Knutson Trio, or as a soloist, at clubs, festivals, and concert halls here and abroad; with area vocalists Connie Evingson and Debbie Duncan; and with a variety of instrumental groups including the JazzMN Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra. For more info, please visit: www.MaryLouiseKnutson.com
REVIEWS
"Call Me When You Get There is...state-of-the-art piano trio finery."
JazzTimes
"Mary Louise Knutson is an excellent pianist whose voicings sometimes recall Bill Evans but who has developed a lyrical style of her own. .....she has a talent for coming up with fresh melodies. This is an impressive disc....."
LA Jazz Scene
"Knutson is the same kind of rookie that Ichiro Suzuki is - a proven winner..."
Minneapolis Star Tribune
"...another example that major labels don't have all the exceptional jazz talent."
Jim Clark, KUSD - South Dakota Public Radio
"Knutson's CD is phenomenal......I'm all over this thing! It's just tremendous.....I'm going to be on this very heavily!"
Ross Gentile, WSIE - St. Louis, MO
"Mary Louise Knutson has to be one of the most exciting and innovative artists to happen to jazz piano in quite some time. She shows the smoothness and feeling of a Bill Evans (probably the best ever). Her compositions are excellent along with her playing. The performance of the group on the album is superb. Let's hope that this is just the first of many more efforts from this fine artist."
Fan Review
BAND MEMBERS
Knutson's trio also features the talents of jazz bassist, Gordon Johnson who has performed, recorded, and toured extensively as a bassist with such artists as Maynard Ferguson, Chuck Mangione, Paul Winter, Toots Thielemans, Kenny Werner, Ben Sidran, Stacey Kent, Marlena Shaw, Herb Ellis, Peter Erskine, Manfredo Fest and many others.
Drummer Phil Hey, who plays on six of the CD tracks (2,3,5,6,7,8), rounds out the trio. A New York native, Hey has worked with Kenny Barron, Charlie Rouse, Dewey Redman, and Benny Golson. Since moving to Minnesota, Hey has worked with many visiting jazz greats including Jay McShann, Jane Monheit, Rebecca Paris, and Nneena Freelon.
Drummer, Marc Rio, (tracks 1, 4, 9), has performed extensively throughout the United States and internationally, playing with some of the world's finest musicians including Ron Eschete', Scott Henderson, Jeff Berlin, Gary Willis, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, and John Entwhistle. An experienced performing and recording artist, Rio also teaches at Music Tech in Minneapolis, following 10 years as Master Class instructor for the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California where he taught big band, jazz, latin, and rock.
And finally, drummer, Craig Hara, (track 10), moved from Los Angeles to the Twin Cities in 1997. While in L.A. he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees from the California Institute of the Arts. He has performed with The Social Climbers, the Val McCallum Band, the Larry Honda Quartet, Khazé, Reawakening, Rhapsody in Taps, and recorded for motion pictures including Death Wish IV. In addition to playing drums, Craig's primary instrument is trumpet.
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