Composer/saxophonist/improviser George Cartwright is best known for his work with the group Curlew. Cartwright was born and raised in Mississippi. In the 1970s he studied at Karl Berger's Creative Music Studio in upstate New York, with such artists as Leo Smith, Anthony Braxton, and Oliver Lake. He moved to Manhattan and became involved in the "punk jazz" movement in the late '70s with Bill Laswell, Fred Frith, and the members of Curlew. He improvised with artists like John Zorn, Charles K. Noyes, Polly Bradfield, and George Lewis. In the early '80s, Cartwright recorded Bright Bank Elewhale, an LP of improvised duets, with clarinetist Michael Lytle. He recorded two LPs with the improvising collective Meltable Snaps It, whose revolving personnel included Lytle, Christian Marclay, David Moss, and Tom Cora.