Carmen Staaf Quintet at the Cornelia St Cafe

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Jazz pianist Carmen Staaf, winner of the 2009 Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Competition, will perform with her quintet at Cornelia Street Cafe in Manhattan on Wednesday, August 1st (6 pm, $10 cover). Staaf, considered "a most impressive pianist" by the late Bob Brookmeyer, has been profiled on NPR's JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater, the Jazz Session with Jason Crane, and in All About Jazz NY's "Listen Up" section. Her current group features the great violist Mat Maneri, young Israeli rising star Tammy Scheffer (vocals), and the dynamic rhythm section of Matt Aronoff (bass) and Dan Pugach (drums and percussion).

The music is inspired by Kabir poems, dance, Chopin, dreams, Latin American rhythms, and the jazz lineage (listen at http://www.carmenstaaf.com). Many of her compositions move between composed sections and free improvisation, creating deliberate yet flexible narratives. Her music reflects an eclectic and ever-expanding set of influences, among them her classical training, her background in straight ahead jazz at Seattle's Garfield High School, the six months she spent studying in Cuba, her studies at NEC with Danilo Perez and Bob Brookmeyer, her time as an accordionist performing Jewish and Mexican music (with members of the Klezmatics and Lila Downs, respectively), and her recent stint teaching in India.

Ms. Staaf also taught in the piano department at Berklee for four years beginning at age 24, having just completed a double degree program at New England Conservatory and Tufts University (where she majored in Anthropology). She currently performs with many groups in the NYC jazz and world music scenes, as well as teaching privately. Last fall Carmen taught jazz piano at Prasanna's Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music near Chennai, India, alongside Dafnis Prieto and Jane Getter. She will also be on the piano faculty at the Litchfield Jazz Camp this summer.

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