Articles by Katchie Cartwright
Denny Zeitlin: Odyssey
by Katchie Cartwright
"Don't count stars or you might stumble," the lyric warns. The song is about falling in love, but Denny Zeitlin zooms in on the cosmos at the outset of his live journey into “It Could Happen to You" on Odyssey. He flashes around the piano's twinkling top end with whole-tone swirls and crystalline dissonances, like Tinkerbell or maybe a firefly, with drummer George Marsh at his side, articulating icy stick figures on the ride cymbal, while bassist Mel Graves stays ...
Continue ReadingL'Abîme: L'Abîme II
by Katchie Cartwright
Montreal-based composer and pianist Jonathan Turgeon, double-bassist Hugo Blouin, and drummer Jean-Philippe Godbout have been together as a rhythm section since 2015, performing, recording, and following in the footsteps of musical heroes as diverse as Herbie Hancock, Olivier Messiaen, and Radiohead. L'Abîme II is their second release as the ensemble L'Abîme (The Abyss), following L'Abîme I (Multiple Chord Music, 2021). L'Abîme's “earlier incarnation" released two recordings as Trio Jonathan Turgeon: Au Fil des Feuilles que Craquent (Self-Produced, 2015) ...
Continue ReadingAri & Cecil Alexander: Kaleidoscope
by Katchie Cartwright
A breezy virtuosity pervades Kaleidoscope from the opening title cut. “I run for the train with you on my mind," vocalist-pianist Ari Alexander sings, “watching the town kaleidoscope by..." She and guitarist Cecil Alexander call their style “rhythmic post-bop," citing Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson and Betty Carter as influences, but you can also hear a bit of Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg and Blossom Dearie in their original compositions, pieces like Dorough and Frishberg's “I'm Hip," which Dearie premiered in 1966 ...
Continue ReadingAntonio Adolfo: Balaios
by Katchie Cartwright
Antonio Adolfo draws a parallel between balaios, the baskets that African Brazilian women have carried on their heads for centuries, and musical albums. “Each piece is placed carefully inside, shaped by the moment in which it was born, yet carried into the present with renewed meaning," he says. He speaks of Balaios as a gathering of “what he has cultivated over time--ideas, memories, and melodies." The project, a retrospective of sorts, has a particular focus on the composer-pianist's long association ...
Continue ReadingStephen Guerra: Um Violão na Cidade Maravilhosa
by Katchie Cartwright
Buffalo-based guitarist-songwriter and professor Stephen Guerra's notation has developed a slight Brazilian accent. You notice it in small things like a major chord symbol with a capital “M." Who is reading these charts? Musicians in several choro communities around the globe, as it turns out. Take “Um Negocinho pro Tito," (track 9). Guerra first released it on his self-produced 2025 album No Balanço do Choro-Samba, which featured Rogério Souza on 7-string guitar, Eduardo Neves on flute and Thiago ...
Continue ReadingElla & The Bossa Beat: Amare
by Katchie Cartwright
Need an escape from the gloom and doom of global politics? How about a hit of Brazilian world-jazz of the “sal, sol, sul" variety? Ella & The Bossa Beat's Amare might be the ticket. For an idea of the ethos, consider a few of the titles: “Mais que um Verão" (More than a Summer), “Areia" (Sand), “Amanhecer" (Dawning), “Summer Rain," “Amare." Salt, sun, south, and of course, love...On their fourth project together, the father-daughter songwriting team of Orlando-based ...
Continue ReadingNeves e Silva: Ladeiras de Santa Teresa
by Katchie Cartwright
Ladeiras de Santa Teresa opens with a big polymetric beat and powerful brass and percussion up front. You might flash on the Afro-Bahian sound of Letieres Leite's Orkestra Rumpilezz. The groove shifts suddenly, releasing into a jazz feel; Brazilian jazz that is, not swing or bebop, though Charlie Parker's “Star Eyes" with intro serves as a rough analog (Verve, 1951). Luiz Otavio takes a ride on piano, followed by Eduardo Neves on tenor saxophone, then back to the head with ...
Continue ReadingSara Serpa & Matt Mitchell: End of Something
by Katchie Cartwright
Recorded in 2023, Sara Serpa and Matt Mitchell's End of Something launched in 2025, splashing down late in the year, landing softly on select best-of-year lists. It had been a slow process, Serpa reported. There was a feeling “that it was OK to wait and take time, to come back to it a few months later and do some work over it and come back again." The ripples continue to radiate in 2026. The sound is uncommonly stark ...
Continue ReadingFreedom! Juneteenth National Independence Day
by Katchie Cartwright
Caminhos do Jazz celebrates the 160th anniversary of Juneteenth National Independence Day, Emancipation Day here in Texas, with songs of freedom: Simone, Reeves, Harris, Giddens, Staples, Ranky Tanky, Ladysmith, Soares, BaianaSystem, Owens, Horn... Playlist Nina Simone “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" by Billy Taylor & Dick Dallas from Silk & Soul (RCA Victor, 1967) 00:36 Dianne Reeves “Freedom Dance" by Dianne Reeves, Eddie del Barrio, Jeanne Pisano from Art & Survival (EMI, ...
Continue ReadingHamilton de Holanda: Chegando a San Antonio!
by Katchie Cartwright
Hamilton de Holanda Trio is coming to San Antonio for the first time, which is cause for celebration. Fans of Caminhos do Jazz have heard the great bandolinista on the show many times over the years, but this is our first opportunity to see him live in our fair city. He and his bandmates, Thiago Big Rabello (drums) and Salomão Soares (keys) have been on the road with their 2025 Best Latin Jazz Album win for Live in NYC (Sony ...
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