Guitarist John Etheridge’s Blue Spirits Trio, with Pete Whittaker on Hammond organ and George Double on drums, has existed as a live band for nearly twenty years, but has never issued a recording… until now.
UKJazz News: You’ve played in so many contexts. What is the appeal of playing in the Blue Spirits trio?
John Etheridge: Like many guitarists, I’ve always been drawn to the sound of guitar and organ. They seem to make a natural sonic match, and there have been many classic organ trios. Another appeal is the spontaneity, the informality of this kind of line-up. I’m a jazz musician really because I like to be as improvisational as I can.
This is as important to me as honouring the canon. So, provided there is an improvisational quality, I’m happy to draw from a wide range of sources, reflecting the 64 years I’ve spent studying the guitar. This trio context allows me to access most of the influences that have shaped my musical life, and hopefully present a coherent whole.
UKJN: You are essentially the soloist out in front of this band, right?
JE: I’d say that’s the case here. I often play in duos (e.g. with John Williams, Vimala Rowe, Chris Garrick) where, however sophisticated, one is essentially playing the role of accompaniment – which is, of course, the basic heritage of the guitar.
Here, I play the role of the singer or frontline instrument, with more of a single line focus. If there was no organ, my responsibilities would be more harmonic and rhythmic, but here my job is to be ‘out front.’
UKJN: There is a sound that one might anticipate from a ‘jazz guitar trio,’ but yours is audibly different and more rocky. What is the key to that and how does all that work?
JE: If I’m the quasi-vocalist (i.e. ‘carrying the tune’), then it’s important to have as expressive a sound as my tastes will allow. I use overdrive and a small range of effects to create timbre and texture, which are my main interests at the moment. I take my cue from great singers, with whom every note is treated with respect. So often, particularly with standard jazz guitar, the notes are ‘functional’, one leading to the other in an uninflected cascade. I’m a great admirer of the jazz guitarists of the past, but I grew up in a later era, so I have a correspondingly different perspective. I’m not prepared to jettison all the influences of my youth to sound ‘jazzy.’
When I first started playing on the jazz scene, it was quite amusing that audiences would treasure honks, growls, vibrato, slurs and slides from saxophone players, but as soon as you bent a note on the guitar the cry would go up: “He’s a ROCK guitarist!”
UKJN: On gigs, I notice that where you can, you leave it till the very last moment to call the tune. Do you enjoy and relish the uncertainty?
JE: I don’t want to overdo this aspect. I still play a few gigs that are real pick-ups in the old fashioned sense (i.e. one is the visiting soloist with some local musicians). This can be very challenging, rewarding, difficult… a bit of a lottery. I’m quite happy with these as I find the adaptation on my part fairly easy, working out the strengths of the people you’ve been thrown together with and trying to present a coherent and satisfying evening of music.

Blue Spirits lies somewhere between this and a formal band. We’ve played together a long time, so there is a confidence in being well acquainted with the other guys. I know what Pete and George are capable of, so we can quickly change tack if needed. This is why I was happy to put out a ‘live’ album. We did a little editing, chopping a few segments here and there, but basically this feels like an ‘honest’ recording.
UKJN: Do you have any kind of ‘pad’ or is the repertoire infinite?
JE: We do have a body of tunes that we seem to have played over the years, but one of my favourite tracks on the album is the Mal Waldron tune ‘Soul Eyes’, which I just called on the gig. Those things often come off the best. Pete is a rock and can handle anything, so we can do that. But we do have some semi-arrangements, arrived at in improvisation, which then tend to become settled – for example [the Jeff Beck tune] ‘Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers’ starting and ending with a repetitive loop. I’ve played the gamut from very organised, say with John Williams, to totally ‘free’ with John Stevens, Nigel Morris, and Paul Rogers, so I hope we can move unselfconsciously between those polarities.
UKJN: There is a big range of dynamics on offer on this album. Is that something you work hard to achieve?
JE: I do absolutely value that. If you take an interest in texture and timbre this is almost concomitant. I like to use diminuendos and crescendos, which is a little unusual in this context, and also sudden contrasts. George is particularly responsive to using dynamics on the drums. Really, I feel our responsibility is to take the audience on a journey with line (the ‘straight’ jazz way), emotional content, melodic surprise, melodic respite, aggression and tenderness. If people feel they’ve felt some joy or some sadness then we’ve succeeded… though all done in a subtle way, we hope!
UKJN: How did this recording come about?
JE: We recorded this at Peggy’s Skylight in Nottingham. They automatically record all their shows onto multiple tracks, so we could mix the music. I’ve got numerous 2-track recordings of this band, but your hands are then tied when it comes to balancing the elements. The Skylight tracks seemed as good as any of them, so we decided to go ahead. There was originally about 2 hours of music, so we were able to take the best tracks and mix them. I do enjoy that process. There is so much subtle work you can do.
UKJN: Who needs thanking?
JE: Big thanks to Pete and George for their magnificent playing. And thanks to Peggy’s Skylight for putting us on, to brilliant Ru Lemer for mixing, and the great Andrew Tulloch – the master of mastering! Andrew and I have done so many albums together. Thanks to Carl Glover for the ‘Blue’ cover – very effective image I think. And thanks to the Vortex [jazz club], the spiritual home of this trio, where we did our launch.
UKJN: When and where can we hear this band playing live?
JE: Our next gig is at Fleece Jazz (Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk) on 14 February – a suitable Valentine’s night booking! Other gigs will be shown on my website as they come in.
Blue Spirits Live is on Dyad Records from 26 January and available from Proper.