Minneapolis-based jazz 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 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 Knutson the award for Top New Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year from KWJL Radio, California, in 2001. 

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, and in 2005, she was a Top 5 Finalist in the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Pianist Competition. In 2006, Knutson picked up Minnesota Music Award nominations for both Jazz Artist of the Year and Pianist of the Year.

Knutson has performed with such jazz greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby McFerrin, Dianne Reeves, Slide Hampton, Nicholas Payton, Richie Cole, Greg Abate, Von Freeman, Peter Erskine, Billy Hart, and Richard Davis. As a show player, she has performed with such musical acts as Michael Bolton, Trisha Yearwood, Smoky Robinson, Donny Osmond, the Osmond Brothers, and comedians Phyllis Diller, Jack Carter, Rob Schneider, Kevin Nealan, Judy Tenuta, and more.

An acclaimed composer, Knutson has won numerous awards, including two from Billboard Magazine for her compositions "How Will I Know?" and "Meridian". In addition, her composition, “Call Me When You Get There”, was chosen to be the featured music for the documentary, Wellington Lee: 60 Years of Artistic Photography, which will soon be screened at major art museums across the United States. 

A former instructor in jazz piano and improvisation at Carleton College, Knutson also conducts a variety of masterclasses, including Freedom from the Written Page: Beginning Improv for Pianists, which assists students in building jazz chords for solo and ensemble playing and outlines a starting point for improvisation. Her newest masterclass, Making Sense of Jazz, for non-musicians and/or budding enthusiasts, explores how jazz musicians communicate on stage, the typical structure of songs, and the use of
improvisation.

Inspired by successful concert tours in both Italy and the United States, Knutson is now composing music for her next recording project which is slated for release in 2010. In the mean time, she can be heard regularly with her trio in the Twin Cities; with area vocalists Connie Evingson and Debbie Duncan; and with a variety of instrumental groups including the JazzMN Orchestra and the Chuck Lazarus Quartet.

Mary Louise is available for concerts and private engagements (with her group, the Mary Louise Knutson Trio, or as a soloist), as well as for guest artist appearances, private lessons, master classes, touring, recording, and more.