PROFILES
and partners...
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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 have composed and arranged 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).
Musicians in Cartwright/Oppenheim
joint projects 1994-2005 include: 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 associate professor of music at Northwest
Vista College in San Antonio, Texas. She received Fulbright
awards 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." Her publications
include Ramblin'
on My Mind: New Perspectives on the Blues, edited by David Evans
(Univeristy of Illinois Press, 2008). For many years, she served
as chair of the International Association for Jazz Education’s
Sisters
in Jazz mentoring program and on the board of the International
Women in Jazz,. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors
of the International Association of Schools
of Jazz.. Curriculum
vitae available on requiest. Spotlight
on the artist (Barnes & Noble)
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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.
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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 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. He
regularly tours and records with South African jazz great,
Abdullah Ibrahim. 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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for immediate release: tales
& tongues...