Dorian Ford on Jazz and Roots at the St James Studio
When Sophie and my daughter Minnie return from their trips to the heath, I ask ‘What was John Etheridge having in the café today. Spaghetti bolognaise?’
That is not to say that I think of John as some layabout musician. He always seems to be very busy playing all kinds of gigs with all kinds of people in all kinds of places worldwide. And more importantly John, anecdotally, has often provided great insight into things like British/European/American guitar legacy, with stories and comments about musicians like Eric Clapton, Stéphane Grappelli, Wes Montgomery, John Scofield, Pat Martino, Mark Whitfield, Russell Malone, and more recently, and intriguingly the Chet Atkins aficionado and musical phenomenon Tommy Emmanuel.
Despite his varied stylistic career, like all good mature artists, John always plays like “himself”. And for that, I consider him to be an inspiration and a great role model to any younger players looking to find their voice (myself included).
John will be playing with Pete Whittaker on organ and Mark Fletcher on drums.
