Articles by Katchie Cartwright
Ilona Kudina: Baltic Transit
by Katchie Cartwright
Born and raised in Latvia, Ilona Kudina was trained as a classical musician, earning a master's degree in flute performance from Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music in Riga and becoming a flutist and piccolist with the Latvian National Symphony. Pursuing her interest in improvisation, jazz and contemporary music, she moved to Boston in 2001, where she received a professional diploma from Berklee College. Kudina's self-produced debut album, On the Bridge (2006) offered chamber works by celebrated ...
Continue ReadingKatchie Cartwright's Best Jazz Albums Of 2025
by Katchie Cartwright
These are a few of my favorite things from 2025: songs of water and womb; music of light, shadow and illusion; strange and familiar tongues; beginnings and golden days; suns, moons and mysterious particles; liminality and light; equipoise, gratitude and pure aesthetic pleasure. Many thanks to the dedicated musicians who offered deep and joyful music in a year that was not always merry and bright. May 2026 be peaceful and productive. Click the links for reviews and interviews with the ...
Continue ReadingTierney Sutton: Meets Charlier/Sourisse: Talking to the Sun, featuring Serge Merlaud
by Katchie Cartwright
A light choro with a pandeiro beat, a clever text and a rangy melody that winds around itself, ramping up the tempo on the final turn, “Laptop Choro" is the pick hit of Tierney Sutton Meets Charlier/Sourisse: Talking to the Sun. Sutton's lyric, a relatable contemporary tale, offers a litany of complaints about the digital life: wasting an inordinate amount time on hold with insufferable music in order to speak with a software specialist, reboots that cause whatever ...
Continue ReadingRachel Eckroth & John Hadfield, featuring Petros Klampanis: Olhos de Gato
by Katchie Cartwright
Rachel Eckroth and John Hadfield were in Greece to record Speaking In Tongues (Adhyâropa Records, 2025). The freewheeling piano-drum duo found themselves with an extra day in Athens after finishing the recording, so they decided to enlist bassist Petros Klampanis for another little session, just for fun. No expectations, just a bit of free improvisation. At one point, they pulled out Carla Bley's “Olhos de Gato" (aka “Sad Song"). The piece is deep and beautiful, in the kind ...
Continue ReadingMavis Staples at The Carver
by Katchie Cartwright
Mavis StaplesThe Carver Community Cultural CenterJo Long Theatre San Antonio, Texas November 21, 2025 As liner notes to her 2025 album, Sad and Beautiful World (Epitaph Records) rightly maintain, “Few people wield the combination of moral authority and musical artistry that Mavis possesses." The sounds that come out of her mouth seem to emanate directly from her soul. At age 86, Mavis Staples is still in command of the sublime and earthy voice that ...
Continue ReadingOlhos de Gato: John Hadfield and Friends
by Katchie Cartwright
In November, All About Jazz interviewed the prolific world-jazz percussionist John Hadfield. This edition of Caminhos do Jazz radio features Hadfield's latest single, a gorgeous rendition of Carla Bley's “Olhos de Gato" with pianist Rachel Eckroth and bassist Petros Klampanis (read review). The show also contains selections from a few of the many (100+) recordings in his discography, including his own Paris Quintet and albums with Kinan Azmeh's CityBand (read review), Rachel Eckroth (read review), and Brad Shepik (read review). ...
Continue ReadingJohn Hadfield: An Open Concept
by Katchie Cartwright
John Hadfield's sound is instantly recognizable, due in part to his unique drum kit, which reflects the musics he has studied and with which he continues to engage. Hadfield's formal degrees are in jazz (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) and Western classical music (University of Missouri, Kansas City), but he also studied frame drumming and world percussion extensively with Jamey Haddad at The New School in New York. He trained in South Asian classical percussion with Ganesh Kumar and Subash ...
Continue ReadingGunhild Carling at Jazz, TX
by Katchie Cartwright
Gunhild Carling Jazz, TX The New Season 2025/25San Antonio, TX October 23, 2025 Audiences at Jazz TX are accustomed to programming with a dash of camp. The 2025 fall season includes these theme shows: Soul'd Out (featuring Adam Carillo and His Quartet), Villains and Magic (A Disney Halloween), Vintage Vegas Song Night (with Noelle Goforth & Three Swings and a Miss), Jazz TX Breaks a Leg (The Magic of Broadway), The Music of Walt ...
Continue ReadingAnton Mikhailov: Raising the Stakes
by Katchie Cartwright
Anton Mikhailov currently lives in Tbilisi, Georgia. He was born and classically trained in Ukraine, then moved to Moscow in 2022, during the pandemic. His engaging debut album, Today Yesterday (Self Produced) was released in August of 2025. All About Jazz spoke with the young pianist and composer in October to find out more about his physical and musical journey. Today YesterdayAll About Jazz: You describe the project as a “compositional journey--written across several transformative years--to explore what ...
Continue ReadingJamile with Miki Yamanaka and her trio plus Steve Wilson: Pursuit of a Pulse
by Katchie Cartwright
Jamile Staevie Ayres, who goes professionally by her first name, was born and raised in Cachoeira do Sul, a midsize city located a couple of hours from Porto Alegre in Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state in Brazil, and the heart of its gaúcho culture. Growing up, she gravitated toward música popular brasileira (MPB) and Black popular music of the US. Gal Costa and Aretha Franklin were her two big vocal heroines. She took her undergraduate degree in Brazil ...
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