Jazz Articles about Deirdre Cartwright

Alison Rayner Quintet: Short Stories

by Chris May
March 4, 2020

The Alison Rayner Quintet's third album is good medicine. Despite the sad events which inspired it, about which more in a moment, Short Stories tells its tales through strong melodies, sinewy rhythms and luminous solos, is by turns tender and exuberant, has an uplifting narrative arc, and simply makes you feel better for listening to it. Rayner has been a hero of British jazz since the mid 1980s when, with ARQ's guitarist, Deirdre Cartwright, she was a member ...