Laura’s latest project grew from a commission by the Great River Chorale to add instrumental compositions to a concert based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The five resulting works became the centerpiece of the new recording, along with original tunes honoring Laura’s muses McCoy Tyner and Mary Lou Williams, new arrangements of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Shenandoah,” and the title track, inspired by one of Laura’s favorite haunts, the valley where the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers meet.

The trio opens with Laura’s nod to McCoy Tyner, “In the Moment,” which not only conjures Tyner’s high energy themes but also the jerky feel of Monk; Chris Bates offers a bouncing solo over Dave Schmalenberger’s splashes and pounding figures. Honoring Mary Lou Williams, “Boogaloo for Mary Lou” is a bluesy swinger with appropriately a touch of gospel. -Jazz Police