cartwright/oppenheim
QUINTET PROFILES
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Singer-ethnomusicologist
Katharine (Katchie) Cartwright and saxophonist
Richard Oppenheim have performed and recorded
together in the New York City area and internationally since
the 1980s. Their albums as co-leaders include ‘La Faute
de la Musique’: Songs of John Cage (
Harriton Carved Wax HCW 031), A Mumbai of the Mind: Ferlinghetti
Improvisations (
HCW 032), Live! At the Deer Head Inn (
HCW 941), and Soulmates (Pacific St Records PSR 015). Both
Cartwright and Oppenheim compose and arrange for their ensembles,
whose wide-ranging repertoire includes bebop classics, American
popular standards, original pieces, compositions by John Cage,
and collaborations with non-Western improvising musicians.
Click to read
more (pdf).
Cartwright/Oppenheim
Quintet members: Cameron Brown, Bill
Goodwin, James Weidman (Live! at
the Deer Head Inn, La Faute de la Musique: Songs of John Cage),
Belden Bullock, Bill
Goodwin, James Weidman (Soulmates),
Bhooshan Munj, Rajesh
Srinivasan, R. Venkatesh (A Mumbai
of the Mind: Ferlinghetti Improvisations).
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|  Singer,
ethnomusicologist, and flutist Katharine (Katchie) Cartwright
is an assistant professor of music at Northwest
Vista College in San Antonio, Texas. She has received Fulbright
grants for residencies in Greece and Lebanon and has performed and
conducted workshops in South Asia, West Africa, South America, the
Caribbean, and Europe. Her albums
as co-leader with saxophonist Richard Oppenheim include A
Mumbai of the Mind: Ferlinghetti Improvisations, La
Faute de la Musique: Songs of John Cage, Live!
At the Deer Head Inn (Harriton Carved Wax); and Soulmates
(Pacific St Records). Her credits as a sideperson (flute, voice,
percussion) include two albums with Mark
Holen's Zambomba: Zambomba and Noches
Flamencas.
Cartwright holds a
Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from The City University of New York, with
a specialization in improvisational traditions of the world, and
a dissertation on Quotation and Reference in Jazz Performance: Ella
Fitzgerald’s ‘St. Louis Blues.’ Her publications
include a contribution to Ramblin'
on My Mind: New Perspectives on the Blues, edited by David Evans
(Univeristy of Illinois Press, 2008). She serves as chair of the
International Association for Jazz Education’s Sisters
in Jazz mentoring program, on the board of the International
Women in Jazz, and is an active member of the International
Association of Schools of Jazz..
Click for academics,
biography
(pdf), photos, or to request
more
information and curriculum vitae.
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 Richard
Oppenheim has logged road time with
the bands of Illinois Jacquet and Buddy Rich, and headed up the
sax section in Marvin Gaye’s large touring unit. After putting
in a year and a half with the Paul Jeffrey Octet, he segued into
the octet of valve trombonist Marshall Brown, and played baritone sax
with Jaki Byard and the Apollo Stompers. Two
smaller ensembles, Fat Doggie and Zambomba, led respectively by Gregory
Alper and Mark Holen, allowed him to stretch in the intrepid company
of Bern Nix, Shelley Hirsch, Ray Anderson, and Chuck Loeb, among others.
Oppenheim also fronted bebop trios featuring Cameron Brown, Eliot
Zigmund, and Bill Goodwin, and shared the bandstand with Charles
Mingus, Clifford Jordan, Lionel Hampton, Dave Liebman, and Dennis
Charles. A tour of Haiti with the compas outfit System Band brought
an opportunity to pour his style into a different mold. Sets often
lasted for hours, with Oppenheim frequently called upon to deliver
marathon solos over lengthy vamps. In common with many jazz musicians,
some of his most formative experiences have come sitting in
with such blues men as Lonnie Brooks, Otis Rush, and Mike Bloomfield,
all of whom established their reputations in Oppenheim’s native
Chicago environs. In the realm of rock, he has worked and recorded with
Foghat, Mick Ronson and Ian Hunter, and The Rattlers. He has played
alongside Neil Young, Johnny Winter, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie,
and David Johanssen. Click for a more detailed
biography (pdf).
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 Jazz
bassist, composer and educator Cameron Brown began his
career in the mid sixties, recording in Europe with George Russell
and Don Cherry. These
two wonderful musicians remain life-long influences and inspirations.
Mr. Brown anchored some of the most important groups of the
seventies, eighties and nineties, beginning in 1975.
Sheila Jordan, Roswell Rudd, Archie Shepp and Beaver Harris
were his mentors and band-leaders then.
He
has enjoyed special relationships
with master drummers: Art Blakey, Dannie Richmond, Philly Joe Jones,
Edward Blackwell and Joe Chambers, as well as Mr. Harris.
The Don Pullen/George Adams Quartet, featuring Dannie Richmond,
developed into an intense and rewarding partnership which lasted
nearly ten years. In
addition to this quartet, Beaver Harris's 360 Degree Music Experience,
Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, the Sextet and Big Bands of George
Russell, and various groups led by Mr. Shepp, Mr. Cherry and Mr.
Rudd, Mr. Brown has toured and recorded with Dewey Redman, Chet
Baker, Terumasa Hino, Betty Carter and the John Hicks Trio, Lou
Donaldson, Houston Person and Etta Jones, Sheila Jordan, Marc Copland,
and Salvatore Bonafede.
He's helped young people around the world to nurture their interest
in and passion for jazz: from North Carolina to Norway, to New York,
to Hong Kong and Taiwan, and presently, on the faculty of the
summer workshop near Venice, Italy sponsored by the Manhattan School
of Music. At present,
in addition to freelance work, clinics and workshops, Mr. Brown
tours and records with Joe Lovano, Sheila Jordan, Jane Ira Bloom,
Dave Ballou, and The Cartwright/Oppenheim Quintet, as well as his
own ensemble: Cameron Brown and the Hear and Now.
He has appeared on more than eighty recordings. Click to
read more.
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 Belden
Bullock’s
overlapping tenures with Andrew Hill and Ahmad Jamal highlight his unusual
mixture of gravity and playfulness. His
recordings with Abdullah Ibrahim, Oliver Lake, Jay Hoggard, and
Ralph Peterson, and gigs with James Spaulding, George Adams, Greg Osby, Donald
Harrison, and Kevin Eubanks, and the Spirit
of Life Ensemble
round out a distinctive profile.
Click to read
more and buy.
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 The
three decades Bill Goodwin has spent with the Phil Woods Quintet,
in addition to seminal stints with Gary Burton and Charles Lloyd, contrast
with an active career as drummer-of-choice for such disparate personalities
as Art Pepper, Bill Evans, George Shearing, Stan Getz and the Al Cohn-Zoot
Sims Quintet. His output as a producer is as highly regarded as it is
extensive, garnering him two Grammy awards and six nominations. A drummer
that has been in demand for a variety of musically challenging assignments,
Bill Goodwin has put together a list of credits that would be worthy of
any member of the drummer's hall of fame. One of his specialities is laying
down a steady yet subtle beat in the piano trio groups of leaders who
have a sophisticated edge to their tunes, including Mose Allison, as well
as the even more introspective and experimental Tom Waits. Of course,
the drummer has a shopping list of jazz credits, but jumping out among
such obvious jewels are surprises such as his session playing on the psychedelic
rock band Jefferson Airplane's Crown of Creation album, forming a not
so obvious link between the San Francisco sound of the late '60s and the
cool jazz of Los Angeles to the south. This was where Goodwin was born,
taking up piano as his first instrument at the ripe age of five. Click
to read
more.
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 Bhooshan
Munj is a disciple of tabla Maestro, Pt. Anindo Chaterjee.
Performed with Pt.Shivkumar Sharma, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Dr.
L Subramanium, Ustad Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan, Aashish Khan, Brij Narayan,
Noyan Ghosh, Tarun Bhattacharya, Ron Muzumdar, Rakish Chaurasia, Roopak
Kulkarni, Niladri Kumar, and Abhijit Pohankar.
Performed on television channels Doordarshan, Music Asia, MTV, MCM, and
Sahara India. CDs released include: ‘L.Subramanium And Yehudi Menuhin
In New York,’ ‘Horn Ok Please’ with Jazz group The Indica
Project, ‘Tranquillity’ with Abhijit Pohankar, ‘Spiritual-Stimulation
Music’ released through Gospel Literature Service and jazz album ‘A
Mumbai Of The Mind’ with the jazz duo Cartwright/Oppenheim. Trained
over seventy students worldwide. Imparted several-lecture-demonstrations
through ‘SPIC-MACAY’ all over India.
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 Shri.
Rajesh Srinivasan, a young prodigy in music hails
from a family of Bhagvathars and started playing mridangam from his
tender age of four. He is the son of Shri S V Srinivasan more popularly
known as “Borivili Cheenu.” He had his formal training in
Mridangam under Shri. N H Jayaraman and then had his further training
under Shri. L V Krishnamurthy. Since 1985, he has been undergoing
training under Padmashri. Palghat R Raghu for his advanced training
in the art of playing mridangam and kanjira. He has to his credit
innumerable performances right from school days and has won several
awards and first prizes representing the state. Notable amongst them
are the Tal-Mani award bestowed by the Sur Singar Samsad and the South
Zone Cultural Centre Award in 1993.
A front ranking musician, he accompanies almost all the leading musicians
and Percussionists in and out of the country. A versatile percussionist,
he plays for Bhajans, Classical concerts, Tala Vadya Kutcheris, Jugalbandis
, Dance concerts and Recordings for films and private albums. He had the
pleasure of touring with Ustad Zakir Hussain to the U.SA and participated
in the “World Music Panorama.” A teacher par excellence, he has
been regularly conducting workshops covering various aspects of music and
the art of playing South Indian percussion.
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 Shri.
R. Venkatesh (morsing artist), started playing mridangam
under the tutelage of Guru Kanadukathan Malayapa Iyer, disciple of Great
Pudukottai Dhashimamoorthy Pillai. He was attracted towards morsing due
his liking and hearing great stalwarts like Shri. Pudukottai Mahadevan
and Shri. Srirangam Kannan. He has learned the instrument on his own and
use unique Miruthagam and Tavil style of playing the Tekas, Nadais and
Korvais. He accompanied almost all the leading musicians from India. To
name a few, he has had the pleasure of accompanying leading musicians
like Padma Bhushan Dr. Balamurali Krishna, Shri. T N Krishnan, Dr. N Ramani,
Shri. M.S. Gopalakrishnan, Shri. Madurai G S Mani, Shri Neyveli Santhanagopalan,.Shri.
Sanjay Subramanian and Smt Aruna Sayeeram He has been bestowed the Tal-Mani
award by the Sur Singar Samsad in the year 1993. Recently he has been
selected as B Grade artist for Morsing by All India.
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 James
Weidman leads his own ensembles, co-leads
TaJa with Talib Kibwe, and in the pianist chair with Kevin Mahogany.
His substantial recorded output with Abbey Lincoln and Steve Coleman,
along with his formative periods with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, Slide Hampton,
and Cassandra Wilson have established his solid reputation.
Weidman recently released a trio album (TCB).
From the moment James
Weidman sits down at his magical keyboards, he commands your attention.
With professional credits literally running the gamut of modern Jazz expression,
it is no wonder that critics the world-wide have hailed the musicianship
of James as refined, mysterious, earthy, powerful and downright mesmerizing.
A native of Youngstown,
Ohio, James started playing piano in the second grade. His father played
saxophone and his mother sang in the church choir. James' father wanted
his son to have a musical education. Nurtured by a piano teacher, James
diligently studied Classical music. However, it was playing his father's
stored away 78 and LP Jazz recordings that really opened the window to
his musical soul. Listening to Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, Thelonious
Monk and Bud Powell, James began a love affair with Jazz. Click to read
more.
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