is an award winning guitarist and composer who became well known presenting the BBC TV’s ground-breaking series ‘Rockschool’. She also played with Afro Latin Jazz group The Guest Stars, recording three albums and toured in 17 countries.
Currently leads the group PICNIC with Annie Whitehead, and plays with ARQ, Sea Change, Carol Grimes, Electric Landladies and regularly at Ronnie Scott’s in Soho and as a guest artist in UK jazz clubs.
In 1991 she formed the Deirdre Cartwright Group which recorded five albums and played international festivals from Mexico to Warsaw. She has also written and recorded albums with the groups Emily Remembered and LUND.
She played two memorable gigs with legendary guitarist Tal Farlow at the Pizza Expres Soho, studied in America with Mick Goodrick, toured with Jamaican composer Marjorie Whylie, founded Blow the Fuse with Alison Rayner in 1989 and presented on Radio 3.
She has also written seven books on guitar playing, was head of the guitar syllabus for the Rockschool exam series and presented her own radio show on Jazz London Radio.
More recently she has toured and recorded three albums with ARQ who won Best UK jazz group in the Parliamentary Jazz Awards and British Jazz Awards in 2018.
She won the public vote for Best Guitarist at the 2019 British Jazz Awards and in 2020 was awarded Services to Jazz with Blow the Fuse at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards.
‘If there is a more complete guitarist in contemporary music than Deirdre Cartwright – I’d like to know who it is’ Dave Gelly The Observer
‘Cartwright’s coolly undulating Grant Green shuffle groove is one of the understated pleasure of UK’s contemporary fusion.’ John Fordham The Guardian
‘Cartwright remains that most chameleon of players, able to summon the spirit of others while retaining her own voice’ Andy Robson Jazzwise