Bio:
Katie Cavera has made a name for herself on the West Coast and in Europe playing 20’s and 30’s classic jazz. She is a rhythm guitar specialist in the style of Freddie Green and Al Casey. She also plays hot 20’s plectrum and tenor banjo, New Orleans style string bass, and sings in the 20’s pop style of Helen Kane and Ruth Etting.
Katie Cavera is originally from Southern Indiana. She attended Indiana University and studied jazz performance and composition with Dr. David Baker, playing with his Jazz Ensemble in a special presentation of Duke Ellington Masterworks at the Smithsonian Institution.
Since moving to Southern California, Katie has become a sought-after guitarist, banjoist, and bassist. Her credits include working with Jug Band legend Jim Kweskin, Jim Cullum’s Jazz Band at The Landing in San Antonio, Texas, George Probert from the Firehouse 5 + 2, and members of Turk Murphy’s Jazz Band including Bob Helm, Leon Oakley, and Ray Skjelbred.
From 2006 - 2009 she was part of the Jerome Savary production of "à la recherche de Josephine (Looking For Josephine)" a musical about New Orleans Jazz, Hurricane Katrina, and Josephine Baker. Katie played guitar and tenor banjo in the production, and notated the original score written by David Boeddinghaus. The musical premiered at the Opera Comique in Paris, France in the fall of 2006 and returned for an encore presentation in the spring of 2007. The show was nominated for a Molière Award (the national theatre award of France bestowed by APAT, the Association Professionnelle et Artistique du Théâtre) and toured extensively through France and Spain from 2007 - 2008. In 2009 the show toured Austria and Germany and had its American premiere in Montclaire, New Jersey.
In 2003 Katie began teaching banjo and guitar at the San Diego Adult Traditional Jazz Camp. She currently teaches at this yearly event as well as the New Orleans Traditional Jazz Camp which she has been a part of since 2009
Jazz critic Jim Leigh and bandleader/multi-instrumentalist Clint Baker have dubbed her the “California Sunshine Girl” because of her upbeat singing style and sunny stage personality. She currently works at Disney California Adventure as a bassist and vocalist with The Pixarmonic Orchestra which premiered this past summer at Disneyland’s Pixarfest. The band plays music from Pixar films in the style of Spike Jones..
Katie is a member of ASCAP, a Loar Performing Artist, and a member of the Academy of Magical Arts.
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Photo by Richard Takenaga
Photo by Woody Pittman
Photo by Nancy Dorin Giffin