Guitarist John Etheridge's appearance with the resident trio at "The Spin @ The Wheatsheaf" last Thursday was the perfect local jazz club gig: superb musicianship feeding off an enthusiastic and supportive audience in a friendly club atmosphere.

Etheridge has multiple musical personalities: there's the electric jazz-rock Etheridge of Soft Machine and more recently Frank Zappa tributes, the acoustic Etheridge of projects with Stephane Grappelli, there's the cross-over Etheridge of collaborations with John Williams and Nigel Kennedy. At the Spin it was the jazz-rock Etheridge who showed, and he certainly seemed to be enjoying himself.

He has complete, seemingly effortless, technical mastery coupled with an enormous sense of fun. There are blurringly fast runs, dagger-sharp chords and the whole range of electronic effects but it's never mere showing off. You have the sense of eavesdropping on a master who’s playing for his own pleasure.

Mark Doffman on drums and Pete Oxley on guitar were on top form, with Pete contributing some nicely crafted solos. Phil Scragg on bass guitar was a revelation, and his solo on /Kind of Blue/ got the biggest cheer of the night.

And a word of appreciation for the audience, who can't make a jazz gig but can certainly break it. They were extremely numerous. They were totally quiet and attentive in the pianissimo sections. They clapped and cheered at the right moments, and exchanged repartee with Pete Oxley during the announcements. One couple danced throughout from a sitting position, and the gentleman managed to find a handkerchief-sized space at the front for the last number, forming a one-man mini mosh pit. About five choruses of Etheridge's solo (plus a few pints of Brains) eventually exhausted him, and he returned to dance from his seat to riotous applause.

One of those evenings where everyone, musicians and audience, leaves with a smile.

Roger van Schaick