Deirdre Cartwright

“Organik”

(Blow The Fuse Records BTF2616CD)

Deirdre Cartwright – guitar, Pete Whittaker – Hammond organ, Gary Hammond – percussion

“Organik” represents guitarist and composer Deirdre Cartwright’s first album as a leader for fifteen years. As its title suggests it features an organ trio with Cartwright joined by Pete Whittaker on Hammond and Gary Hammond on congas and other percussion.

The material features three Cartwright originals alongside six outside pieces, some of these homaging guitar players who have influenced her, among them Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino and Emily Remler.

Cartwright first came to prominence as the guitar tutor on the 1983 BBC TV series Rock School. She’d already played with Painted Lady, the group that evolved into Girlschool, but turned towards jazz, leading her own groups in addition to performing as a member of the fondly remembered all female Latin jazz ensemble The Guest Stars.

With bassist Alison Rayner Cartwright co-ordinated the long running Blow The Fuse jazz nights at London’s Vortex Jazz Club and also established the Blow The Fuse record label. She is currently a member of Rayner’s acclaimed quintet ARQ,

In addition to appearing on all four ARQ albums Cartwright has also released six previous albums under her own name, these embracing a broad variety of jazz styles in the company of a wide range of contributors, among them Hammond,  Rayner and fellow ARQ members Diane McLoughlin (reeds) and Steve Lodder (keyboards).

The Cartwright back catalogue includes “Debut” (1994), “Play” (1997), “Precious Things” (2002), “Dr. Quantum Leaps” (2004), “Tune Up Turn On Stretch Out” (2007) and “Emily Remembered” (2011), the last named a homage to Emily Remler.

Cartwright was also part of the all female trio Lund, with vocalist / lyricist / percussionist Sarah P and drummer / percussionist Ann Day, releasing the album “Flawed Heroine” in 2015.

Cartwright was voted Best Guitarist at the 2019 British Jazz Awards and in 2020 received the Services to Jazz Award for her work with the Blow The Fuse organisation. Meanwhile ARQ has won a Parliamentary Jazz Award for Best UK Jazz Group and a Presto Music Award for Jazz Recording of the Year 2025 (for the album “SEMA4”).

Other artists with whom she has worked include vocalist Carol Grimes, trombonist Annie Whitehead, and fellow guitarists Tal Farlow, Mick Goodrick, Will Barnes, Steven Kirby, John Close and Tom Ollendorff.

The sound of Organik, a band name as well as an album title, is that of the classic organ trio with Cartwright’s Gibson guitar fed through a Fender amp and shorn of electronic effects to create a vintage jazz guitar sound.

The album commences with an arrangement of the Lennon & McCartney song “Eleanor Rigby”. Both Cartwright and Alison Rayner share a love of Beatles music but this version is inspired by Wes Montgomery’s recording of the song and features examples of his octave phrasing. It commences with a passage of unaccompanied guitar from Cartwright, with percussion and organ subsequently introduced. Cartwright shares the soloing with Whittaker while Hammond’s percussion adds an agreeable Latin flavour to the music. Overall I think I prefer this take to Montgomery’s, which features some rather gloopy 1960s style string arrangements that now sound rather dated.

The first original is “One For Polly”, Cartwright’s dedication to Polly Hancock, who designed and photographed the album cover. This attractive tune with its distinctive 6/8 groove frames solos from the leader on guitar and Whittaker on organ, with percussionist Hammond adding subtly detailed propulsion.

A second original, “Mango Bango”, was inspired by Cartwright’s trip to the Bequia Blues Festival on the Caribbean island of the same name, part of St. Vincent and The Grenadines. It’s the most overtly Latin piece thus far with Hammond’s work on congas representing just one of the many tasty musical ingredients. There’s a real feel good feel about this piece that conjures up visions of sunny Caribbean skies and beautiful beaches. Whittaker and Hammond both feature as soloists while Cartwright is a lively and vivacious presence throughout.

Cartwright’s elegant,  slowed down arrangement of the much covered “Softly As In A Morning Sunrise” tips its hat in the direction of Emily Remler with Cartwright approximating something of Remler’s style. Whittaker also features with an expansive organ solo. One of the UK’s premier jazz organists his playing on this album has elicited favourable comparisons with the late, great Joey DeFrancesco. Other UK jazz artists that Whittaker has performed with include guitarist John Etheridge, saxophonists Art Themen and Theo Travis and vocalist Zoe Schwarz. He is also a member of the soul jazz outfit The Filthy Six.

Cartwright pays homage to another of her jazz guitar heroes with the original “Espresso Martino”, a tribute to the late, great Pat Martino (1944-2021), whose own organ trio included DeFrancesco. Cartwright’s piece blends funk, blues and latin elements and sees her exploring the lower registers of her instrument as she shares the solos with Whittaker.

The trio’s take on “You Don’t Know Me”, a song written by Eddy Arnold and Cindy Walker was inspired by a recorded version by Ray Charles.  This instrumental version borrows from blues and gospel with Whittaker’s Hammond at its most church-like as he shares the solos with Cartwright, whose playing continues to inhabit the guitar’s lower registers. Gary Hammond’s percussion is economical but effective.

Percussionist Hammond really comes into his own on an ingenious jazz / latin interpretation of the Dire Straits song “Sultans of Swing”, generating a wide range of sounds to complement the soloing of Cartwright and Whittaker.

Bronislaw Kaper’s much played jazz standard “On Green Dolphin Street” is kept fresh in a swing / latin arrangement that features some neat interplay between Cartwright and Whittaker followed by solos from both, the organist going first. Hammond offers lively percussive accompaniment, again deploying a colourful array of sounds. Hull based Hammond plays across a wide range of musical genres, with two of his more high profile engagements being with Nina Simone and The Beautiful South.

The album concludes with an arrangement of “The Gentle Rain”, a tune by the Brazilian songwriter Luiz Bonfa. It’s a piece that is a particular favourite of Cartwright’s and one which features regularly in her live performance. This delightful bossa style arrangement unfolds slowly, and dare one say it, organically. It’s the lengthiest track on the album and features expansive, unhurried solos from Cartwright and Whittaker as Hammond provides typically understated, but highly effective, percussive accompaniment.

Cartwright says of this recording;
“I made this album for me, wanting to move away from effects pedals and play without the distraction of technology. Playing with Pete and Gary brought spontaneity, imagination and creativity to the whole process. I had fun making this record”.

It certainly sounds like it. The performances are relaxed and vivacious and the sound mix, by engineer Chris Lewis at the The Fish Factory, and with Cartwright and Rayner producing, is excellent throughout.

The use of percussion rather than kit drums helps to give Organik a distinctive sound that is markedly different to that of the conventional organ trio and brings something fresh and exciting to the music. And as Cartwright jokes “this is the only organ trio with two Hammonds”.

That said the Norwegian trio Supersilent once recorded an album (their ninth) featuring all three members playing Hammond organs and nothing else. Needless to say it sounds absolutely nothing like Cartwright’s trio!

There are moments when the “Organik” album strays a bit too close to smooth jazz but on the whole it’s a thoroughly enjoyable recording featuring interesting and intelligent compositions and arrangements allied to some excellent playing. One suspects that that this music will be even more exciting when heard in the live environment and I’m looking forward to seeing Organik when they visit Brecon Jazz Club on October 13th 2026.

The album is available via Cartwright’s website;
https://www.deirdrecartwright.com/

 

 

 

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