Guitar star John Etheridge hits Hastings

Renowned guitarist John Etheridge, who will be appearing at the monthly Jazz Hastings session on Tuesday 6 March, has long been held in the highest regard by his fellow musicians, as Julian Norridge explains.

Both Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton have called him a great musician. Pat Metheny described him as “one of the best guitarists”. And in an interview with the Guardian in 1981, no less a figure than Sting said: “I never wanted to be a star, just a highly respected musician like John Etheridge”.

The son of a jazz pianist, he first started playing guitar at the age of 13. His early influences were as varied as Hank Marvin of The Shadows and Django Reinhardt of Le Hot Club de France.

He was involved in the ‘blues boom’ in London in the 1960s alongside players such as Jeff Beck and Peter Green, but his big break came in 1975 when he was invited to join the celebrated jazz-fusion group Soft Machine.

40-year career

In a career that has spanned more than 40 years, he has played, recorded and toured with an astonishing number of bands. He spent years touring and recording with Dick Heckstall-Smith and was a long-standing member of Nigel Kennedy’s live band.

His playing has covered a wide range of styles. While in Soft Machine, for instance, he also developed a long-term collaboration with the iconic French violinist Stephane Grapelli, with whom he appeared on numerous world tours between 1976 and 1981.

In 2006 he started another long-term collaboration with the celebrated classical guitarist John Williams. The duo have recorded two albums together and have toured Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand.

Others he has played with over the years include Dizzie Gillespie, Yehudi Menuhin, Herb Ellis, Pat Metheny and Barney Kessel.

For this session John Etheridge will be joined by Jazz Hastings’ very own Roger Carey on bass and Nic France on drums.

John Etheridge with Roger Carey and Nic France Jazz Hastings, Tuesday 6 March, East Hastings Sea Angling Association (on the Stade behind the lifeboat station). Doors open 7.45pm for an 8.30 start, admission £10 on the door.

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