JOHN ETHERIDGE AND VIMALA ROWE AT FOOTLIGHTS CAMBRIDGE UNION CELLARS
John Etheridge and Vimala Rowe
““Probably the best guitarist in the world’’ John Etheridge wears this soubriquet lightly – he plays breathtakingly brilliant guitar in whatever genre arises. A member of the famous fusion group “Soft Machine’ (I am still trying to puzzle out who originated that cryptic title) and he has toured worldwide sometimes with no less a figure than Stéphane Grappelli. His reputation in the jazz world - colossal.
He came across Vimala Rowe in a walk on Hampstead Heath ‘Lots of people tell me they’re singers, but this was different. I invited her to a gig and hoped she might step up in the second half. Or not. She did Once I heard her, I knew she was exactly what I wanted “
John Etheridge’s judgement is god -like. The two complemented each other instantly and have created a stunning album Out of the Sky.
John Etheridge in Action
Vimala is intriguingly a Cambridge lass – her parents adopted her when they were students here. At last night’s superb gig, she reminisced about growing up here - and Fitzbillies . John Etheridge calmly casual stage presence enhanced the cool relaxed atmos on set, as the duo swung through their fabulous repertoire.
John Etheridge cool under fire
It began with some stunning solo pieces from John Etheridge I sat next to guitarist extraordinaire, artist James Horton, who gazed rapt at the skill and precision of the playing. Then came Vimala with an ambitious Billie Holiday classic (unsurprisingly accomplished as she has got amazing plaudits as Billie in a tribute show to the singer.) Beautiful poised and hugely personable Vimala’s range is astonishingly wide. She has trained in Hindustani vocals in a year in Northern India and she weaves those into some classic traditional work. I adored her version of a dedicated lover’s plea done in Swahili – without knowing a word of the song, I warmed to her voice, her interpretation, her timeless timbre and glorious tones.
Summertime was more familiar as were some of her own compositions like ‘Sometimes you have to part’ which sounded like a classic but came directly from Vimala’s imagination. Equal in adventurous scope with John Etheridge, here is a musical duo born in Heaven.
What was less heavenly – at times hellish – was the venue. Poor John Etheridge, international musical star and jazz supremo, threw down some newspapers to stop his feet sticking to the floor! And the lighting had a role of its own. He gave us the choice between rows of surgically bright fluorescent bulbs ‘Lubyanka prison style’ or two coloured spots. The audience opted for the dim, but it did make it hard for John to plug in his equipment in the Stygian gloom. Lucky these two superb musicians are the least performative performers I have ever heard and they laughed off the dismal dungeon, but still . .
A fabulous crowd a wonderful duo. A great concert
Check out, From the Sky
The Soft Machine btw is a 1961 book by the weird William Burroughs, author of The Naked Lunch made into by David Cronenberg which included a walking typewriter - the Soft Machine.
