Duarte Figueira UK JAZZ NEWS May 2025

The Jazz at the Horsebridge programme continues to excel in the quality of its visiting artists. This time we got a chance to appreciate guitarist Deirdre Cartwright’s new trio featuring Pete Whittaker on Hammond organ and Gary Hammond on congas and percussion. Or as she joked, the only trio in jazz with two Hammonds. Cartwright also confessed early on that this was only the second outing of the trio (to the cry ‘what could possibly go wrong’ from a laughing Hammond), but this actually provided a freshness to the gig. The musicians followed each other intently for musical cues, but being long-time collaborators also maintained a relaxed back and forth which flowed beautifully throughout.