St Matthias Hall

Deirdre Cartwright’s Picnic featuring Annie Whitehead create expressive and life affirming music reflecting a love of jazz mixed with funk, reggae and South African influences. Guitar and trombone blend in an exciting front sound with great grooves, inspiring melodic tunes and an all star rhythm section.. Deirdre Cartwright 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 touring in 17 countries. In 1991 she formed the Deirdre Cartwright Group which recorded five albums and played international festivals from Mexico to Warsaw. More recently she has toured and recorded four 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. In 2026 her album with organ trio ORGANIK garnered 4 star reviews from Jazzwise, Jazzmann etc 'Deirdre Cartwright is a deeply expressive guitarist who produces finely wrought, bluesy, soulful melodic lines.' Kevin Le Gendre, Jazzwise Annie Whitehead Trombone virtuoso best known for her engaging mix of African grooves, blues, ska and Ellingtonian expressionism. One of the UK's brightest and most versatile trombone players, Annie Whitehead has played on over 50 albums "The Sly and Robbie of British brass, the woman everyone turns to when they want a class trombone player" Time Out As part of the UK jazz scene she has worked with Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath, Dudu Pukwana, Evan Parker, Elton Dean’s Newsense (alongside legendary trombonists Roswell Rudd and Paul Rutherford), The Charlie Watts Big Band, and the Jazz Jamaica Big Band. Internationally she’s worked with McCoy Tyner, Carla Bley, Abdullah Ibrahim, Louis Moholo and James Blood Ulmer. As a member of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra she toured worldwide and appeared on three albums. Alison Rayner leads the multi award-winning quintet ARQ who won the best ensemble in the 2018 Parliamentary Jazz Awards, Alison won the 2019 Ivor Novello Composer Award for best small group composition. Her latest album SEMA4 has been nominated for 'Jazz album of the Year' in the 2026 Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Award-winning Winston Clifford has been a first call drummer on the UK jazz scene for over 30 years. His cv is extensive and very impressive, his powerful yet sophisticated playing the driving force behind the likes of Carleen Anderson, Stanley Turrentine, Benny Golson, John Abercrombie, Joe Lovano Norma Winstone, Winner of the British Jazz Award for “Best Drummer".