Hero Brown, Editor of womens' lifestyle blog Muddy Stilettos, enjoys a surprise visit to an Oxford jazz club by the great violinist Nigel Kennedy

  • Nigel Kennedy and John Etheridge
  • Spin Jazz Club, Oxford

Those who lament that the Oxford music scene lacks an international punch should hot-foot it to The Spin jazz club.

The little known venue, on the top floor of the The Wheatsheaf pub off Oxford’s High Street, is resolutely no frills, with a small stage and bar, and enough room to swing roughly 200 music aficionados. But if you want some evidence of The Spin’s jazz credentials, its 15th anniversary gig last week showcased world-renowned guitarist John Etheridge playing a two hour set, and then, as a (very) late night guest, the utterly brilliant Nigel Kennedy who came straight from playing Beethoven’s 3rd Violin concerto at the New Theatre and blew the roof off the building with a jazz performance that at times sounded more like virtuoso electric guitar than violin-playing.

John Etheridge played the first ever gig at The Spin Club all those years back with the same super-talented house band of Mark Doffman, Peter Oxley and Raph Mizraki who also run the venue, and their sense of cameraderie was clear to see. House guitarist Oxley was a very witty, urbane host (as well as being Etheridge’s match on the guitar) and the crowd were regularly in stitches at his little asides between pieces.

Etheridge, looking rather like Jeremy Clarkson with long hair (though thankfully less divisive – the crowd loved him) showed a complete mastery of the guitar that was quite breathtaking, wincing with the effort at times, eyes closed, lost in the music.

Even if two hours of guitar riffs wasn’t quite your favourite thing in the world (your reviewer is more a fan of some brass intervention), it was a wonderful, immersive, varied gig, full of virtuoso solos and slower, atsmospheric pieces.

Word had obviously leaked out about Kennedy’s appearance which is why, two hours after Etheridge’s show had ended, the room was still full, the air close with expectation, waiting for the ‘special surprise guest’ to appear.

Kennedy lumbered onto the stage at 1am, punk hair in place, smiling coyly (and possibly appearing, some might say, a bit worse for wear) and offering to the patient crowd, "I've one thing to say to you: sorry!" And then, out came a crazy futuristic violin, a whole lot of fist-on hearting, and along with the house band plus Etheridge (with whom he’s played many times before) Kennedy let rip with the most extraordinary, un-rehearsed set that more than made up for the long wait.

At times it was almost surreal, watching the world’s best selling violinist of all time in the tiny venue, wearing a West Ham top, joking about skinning-up with the audience, playing wolf-whistles on his violin for a lady in the front row and quite plainly leading the house band wherever he felt like going.

This was jazz at its best – five musicians on the stage having fun, experimenting and taking the audience with them.

They played everything from Hey Joe (Hendrix), The Girl from Ipanema (Antonio Carlos Jobim) to Sweet Georgia Brown and other jazz standards, and it was clear that none of the playing was rehearsed, with Kennedy calling the numbers on stage without anyone knowing what was coming next. "Well that was f****** crap wasn’t it?" Kennedy joked at one ragged ending, while at other times he’d throw in bits of classical or snippets of popular music to pull the jazz rug from under our feet.

Kennedy’s riffing with Etheridge was phenomenal, with his violin on the Hendrix giving any guitarist a run for his money. And it was clear why Etheridge is in such demand with other jazz musicians - he intuitively understood what Kennedy was doing and where he was going with his phasing, and accompanied and built on it brilliantly.

Oxford Mail:

Kennedy clearly relishes ensemble work, and to his credit happily passed the limelight on to other members of the house band, fist pumping his delight repeatedly with the musicians with the enthusiasm of a kid allowed to stay up late for the night.

No encores for this gig – it finished just after 3am – though I’m told that amidst pack-up afterwards Kennedy found time to give a Hungarian violinist an impromptu lesson on improving his technique!

An incredible night at a music venue that deserves its reputation as one of the best jazz venues in the UK.

* The Spin - Oxford's Jazz Club @ The Wheatsheaf , 129 High Street, Oxford OX1 4DF. Tel: 07711 671647 spinjazz.net