Deirdre Cartwright's Picnic featuring Annie Whitehead

Deirdre Cartwright is a London based guitarist and composer who first became well known in the 1980s for presenting the BBC TV’s ground-breaking series 'Rockschool' and for playing in the Afro Latin Jazz group 'The Guest Stars' along with Alison Rayner. They recorded three albums and toured in 17 countries.
She has recorded five albums with her own Deirdre Cartwright Group, played with legendary guitarist Tal Farlow, and toured with the Jamaican composer Marjorie Whylie, and presented on BBC Radio 3.

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.

Bassist and composer 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.

Rod Youngs is one of the most expressive and adept drummers in the music arena today. His approach to music is intuitive, emotional and all-embracing but soundly rooted in the jazz tradition. Whether playing mainstream jazz, world music, or urban contemporary, Rod seamlessly moves from one genre to another, always preserving stylistic conventions whilst bringing creativity and individuality.