Katchie Cartwright

Press bio/release (Rainy Afternoon). Radio host profile (KRTU 91.7 FM San Antonio). Click here for more press quotes.

“Dr. Katchie Cartwright’s new EP Rainy Afternoon might have been tailor-made for the COVID-19 era. Recorded in Austin shortly before the pandemic hit, it’s both soothing and energizing. Catchy melodies and Brazilian rhythms provide a perfect soundtrack for sequestering at home. The title cut opens with cascading musical lines evoking rivulets of flowing water. Flutist Cartwright trades counterpoint with accordionist Jan Flemming over the effervescent percussion of drummer Fabio Augustinis. Next is the well-known “Tico-Tico no Fubá (Sparrow in the Cornmeal),” popularized by artists from the Andrews Sisters to the Grateful Dead. Both tracks are examples of choro, a musical genre born in 19th-century Rio de Janeiro which––like its slightly younger American cousins, ragtime and jazz––sprang from an amalgam of European influences, popular dance forms, and African rhythms. Guitarist Marco Antonio Santos’ facile finger work shines...”

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Press bio/release (Rainy Afternoon). Radio host profile (KRTU 91.7 FM San Antonio). Click here for more press quotes.

“Dr. Katchie Cartwright’s new EP Rainy Afternoon might have been tailor-made for the COVID-19 era. Recorded in Austin shortly before the pandemic hit, it’s both soothing and energizing. Catchy melodies and Brazilian rhythms provide a perfect soundtrack for sequestering at home. The title cut opens with cascading musical lines evoking rivulets of flowing water. Flutist Cartwright trades counterpoint with accordionist Jan Flemming over the effervescent percussion of drummer Fabio Augustinis. Next is the well-known “Tico-Tico no Fubá (Sparrow in the Cornmeal),” popularized by artists from the Andrews Sisters to the Grateful Dead. Both tracks are examples of choro, a musical genre born in 19th-century Rio de Janeiro which––like its slightly younger American cousins, ragtime and jazz––sprang from an amalgam of European influences, popular dance forms, and African rhythms. Guitarist Marco Antonio Santos’ facile finger work shines...”

Bett Butler - Arts Alive San Antonio

“Top 10 best jazz albums of 2020 in the flute category! Katchie Cartwright, Rainy Afternoon (Harriton Carved Wax)”

Arnaldo DeSouteiro - 42nd Annual Jazz Station Awards / The Best of Jazz 2020

“Santos nos deleita con un delicado solo y lo mismo hace Fleming que hace su segunda aparición en el disco. Cartwright está fantástica a la flauta y Augustins hace que no decaiga el ritmo en ningún momento.... Un EP, con cuatro canciones, que nos saben a poco. Quedamos a la espera de un nuevo lanzamiento de esta excelente flautista.”

La Habitación del Jazz

"Katchie Cartwright flies above the groove like a wild improvisational bird."

Dee Dee McNeil - Musical Memoirs (Los Angeles)

"Noted flutist/ethnomusicologist Dr. Katchie Cartwright released a new album celebrating Brazilian music and jazz on September 18. Rainy Afternoon also marks her latest venture with her Brazilian Trio, with guitarist Marco Antonio Santos and drummer Fabio Augustinis. This sophisticated take on Paulo Moura’s “Tarde de Chuva” (from which the album takes its name) is one of the two tracks on the program to feature accordionist Jan Flemming and is defined by a stellar interplay between the musicians."

Jazziz

“A flute player with chops and a pedigree serves up her love for jazz and Brazilian music on this four song set that's a real teaser. Flowing with just the right groove to make it surely Brazilian, you can bet if you dig these sounds you'll want more of them to dig.”

Midwest Record

"A delightful release and guaranteed to bring a smile to the faces of those lucky enough to hear it. Find it on iTunes."

Broadway World

"Whether performing on the flute or singing in different tongues, Cartwright and Le Monde Caché tell a marvelous musical tale worth repeated spins; an amazing and compelling performance."

Edward Blanco - All About Jazz

"Rare are individuals with doctorates in ethnomusicology. Rarer still are the Ph.D.s who put ethnomusicological theory into practice. Katchie Cartwright is of that uncommon breed. The native New Yorker, whose previous projects included musical tributes to composer/philosopher John Cage and bohemian poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, relocated to San Antonio in 2006. There, in addition to academic duties at Northwest Vista College, she launched a radio show, Planet Jazz, devoted to what she calls the "global songbook." Now Cartwright, who doubles on vocals and flute, has united with her husband, Richard Oppenheim, pianist Mark Lomanno (another gifted ethnomusicologist), bassist Billy Satterwhite and drummer Kevin Hess to explore 10 selections from that vast multi-lingual songbook. .... Indeed, Cartwright and company excel at ways to illuminate standards with non-English roots, shaping tangos, bossas, swing numbers and soft ballads with unilateral mastery and imagination."

Christopher Loudon - JazzTimes

“In must-see attractions of the Alamo city, duo Katchie Cartwright and Richard Oppenheim hold a consistent contribution to the cause with weekly appearances at various locations. The tag team power house provide quality music with just three instruments; Oppenheim’s soothing sax and Cartwright’s precise piano playing and confident cool vocals fill all venues with rich melodic phrasing...”

Armando Estrada - Art Magazine

"'Tales and Tongues' is a fascinating collection of songs from all over the world, translated into the language of jazz. Several of the pieces will be familiar from classic recordings (“Triste”, “Estate”, “Chega de Saudade” and “Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn”) but Cartwright sings all of the songs in their original languages and is faithful to the original spirit of her material. All told, she sings in six different tongues (translations are available on her website), and she captures the spirit of the songs and lyrics with subtle changes in her vocal color. Her scat solos on 'Bay Mir' and 'Chega' somehow sound indigenous to the native languages while maintaining their jazz roots."

Tom Cunniffe - JazzHistoryOnline

“Tales & Tongues, the most recent release by Katchie & Le Monde Caché, is a wonderful voyage through different music styles and cultures...”

Wilbert Sostre - JazzTimes

“Standing apart, making music of distinction and lasting value, isn’t easy in any field. But as my colleague Francis Davis argued in a 2006 essay for The Atlantic: 'We expect more from singers … because words speak to us in a way no trumpet or saxophone can — and because their instrument is also ours.' For Katchie Cartwright, standing apart isn’t a problem.”

David R. Adler

“New York's loss was S.A.'s gain when singer/flutist/educator Katchie Cartwright and her husband, saxophonist Richard Oppenheim, moved to town in '06. The pair jumped headlong into the local scene, bringing with them chops, knowledge, energy and the desire to get involved... ”

Jim Beal, Jr. - San Antonio Express-News

“The great Jimmy Heath has hailed Cartwright as 'a soulful intellectual with a velvet sound and uncommon ability.' JazzTimes has described her as 'one helluva singer.' Holding a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology, she melds her insights as a scholar, educator and performer into an original, forward-thinking musical vision she terms the 'global songbook'...”

Tales & Tongues

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