*”the “East Side Jazz Club”-Leytonstone E11 & the “John Etheridge-Quartet” (2026)

Last week my London Shoes headed off to Leytonstone London E11 – a place I know very well – as it is where I started my ‘working’ life way back in 1973. However, the purpose of my return to Leytonstone on this occasion was specifically to visit a jazz club to watch a performance by some extremely accomplished musicians.

The “East Side Jazz Club” in Leytonstone was created in 1993 by drummer and Club host ‘Clive Fenner’ who sadly passed away in 2019.

The Eastside Jazz Club was originally located upstairs at “The Heathcote” pub in Grove Green Road–Leytonstone.

It then moved to another Leytonstone pub the “Lord Rookwood” in Cann Hall Road – and then relocated yet again to “The Crown” pub in Leytonstone High Road.

For a few years now the ‘East Side Jazz Club’ has been operating from its current base, upstairs at the “Leytonstone & District Ex Serviceman’s Club” in Harvey Road–Leytonstone, just off Leytonstone High Road, behind the famous Red Lion pub.

The Leytonstone Ex Serviceman’s Club was founded back in 1922, for the purpose supporting military veterans returning from World Wars – and the venue has been an important community hub for over 100 years now.

It is a proper old school social club, that these days welcomes folk from all different backgrounds and communities. It has a members lounge and bar downstairs with function room/stage/bar upstairs – where the East Side Jazz Club hold their weekly ‘club nights’ every Tuesday.

It was my London Shoes very first visit to the ‘Ex Servicemen’s Club’ even though I had worked in Leytonstone way back in 1973 to 1974 and again from 1984 to 1986 – but I had never visited the venue back in those days.

As I mentioned in the opening para of this piece, Leytonstone holds a special place in my personal history, as it is the place where, in August 1973, I started my working life as a 16 year old junior at Barclays Bank –High Road Leytonstone branch.

I only worked there until late 1974, at a time when my parents decided to move from the east of London right over to north west London – and as a result, I was transferred to another branch, nearer my new home.

As a 16yr old I loved the early days of my working life in Leytonstone – with cash in me ‘sky’ I was able to frequent local pubs like The Crown (that was directly opposite the Branch) / The Green Man / The Red Lion / The North Star, plus many more – frequenting them in my lunch hour and after work – I loved it.

The other significant fact about my ‘time’ working at Barclays Leytonstone branch from 73 to 74 was that it was the place where I met Angela – we married in 1978 and 48yrs-2 daughters+4 grandkids later – are still together.

In the mid 1980’s I did get transferred back to Leytonstone branch for a 2^nd stint, but this time as a loans-officer and only for 1 year – but again, I enjoyed my lunch time and after work sessions in the local pubs – many of which are still in situ today.

Interestingly, Leytonstone is the birthplace of legendary film director “Alfred Hitchcock” who in 1899, was born in a room above his father’s green grocery and poultry shop at 517 High Road Leytonstone.

Hitchcock lived and worked in London right up until 1939, when he officially moved to the United States.

Hitchcock’s childhood home, his father’s shop at 517 High Road Leytonstone – was demolished in the 1960’s – and today a petrol garage stands on the site – but there is a blue plaque tucked away on the garage forecourt wall – that commemorates the fact that Sir Alfred Hitchcock was born there.

Another ‘tribute’ to Leytonstone’s famous son can be found at Leytonstone tube station where 17 excellent mosaics depicting some of Alfred Hitchcock classic films, are displayed on the passenger walkway that connects the s exit/entrance at Church Road to that of Grove Green Road.

But – as I’ve said, the main purpose of me returning to Leytonstone last week was to attend a performance at the East Side Jazz Club where the “John Etheridge Quartet – featuring Art Themen” were headlining.

Born in 1948, Londoner “John Etheridge” is a highly acclaimed guitarist and composer who’s versatility encompasses jazz/blues/classical music. He is the epitome of what could be termed as the guitarist’s guitarist – cited by some in the business as quite possibly being currently the best guitarist in the world.

His early influences were musicians like Belgium’s ‘Django Reinhardt’ (1910-1953) who was one of the first major jazz talents to come out of Europe.

John Etheridge formed his first bands during the early 1960’s period, an era referred to as the British Blues Boom, where his played on the same ‘live’ music scene as the likes of other Brit guitarists like Eric Clapton / Jeff Beck / Peter Green etc.

In 1972 he joined ex Curved Air violinist “Daryl Way’s” new band ‘Woolf’ and recorded 3 albums with them, until the band broke up.

In 1975 he was approach by “Soft Machine” , a popular jazz fusion/progressive music band, who wanted him to be their guitarist. During the 1970’s John Etheridge recorded 3 albums with Soft Machine – ‘Softs’ (1976) / ‘Triple Echo’ (1977) / ‘Alive & Well’-Recorded in Paris (1978).

John Etheridge has been the fulcrum behind many versions of Soft Machine throughout the past 50 years since he first joined them in 1975 – recording/releasing over 12 Soft Machine related albums to date.

Apart from being the driving force behind Soft Machine for decades, John Etheridge has also collaborated/worked/toured with legendary jazz violinist ‘Stephane Grappelli’ – recording 5 albums with him.

The 1980’s saw John Etheridge involve himself in more ‘live’ performances and tours rather than being in the recording studio.

In 1992 John Etheridge joined up with popular violinist “Nigel Kennedy” playing on his 1996 album ‘Kafka’ and his 1998 album ‘The Kennedy Experience-the music of Jimmi Hendrix’ and he also toured extensively with him during the 90’s.

1993 saw John Etheridge collaborate with his long-time friend, the ex ‘Police’ guitarist ‘Andy Summers’ an equally accomplished and well-respected musician. Together they recorded ‘Invisible Threads’ – an album with just the 2 of them on acoustic guitars. They then went on to tour the world together.

Apart from the many collaborative recordings and tours with other legendary musicians and recording artists, John Etheridge has composed and recorded and toured the world as a solo artist. It is a measure of his ability and the recognition he receives, along with the respect shown to him by other musicians – that the 78 year old John Etheridge is still a prolific and much in demand performer today (2026) – and my London Shoes felt very privileged to get to see him play the ‘East Side Jazz Club’ last week.

The John Etheridge Quartet for the Eastside Jazz Club event consisted of “Peter Whittaker” on organ – along with my long-time friend and one time drum teacher “George Double” on drums.

George and I go back well over 25 yrs when he was a customer of the Barclays Bank branch in Hackney where I was manager at that time. We got talking one day and that led to George giving me drumming lessons in the music room of his ground floor flat in Hackney.

Peter Whittaker is a much in demand organist, who in the 1990’s toured with quite a few high-profile rock bands. Peter is a big name on the jazz scene – specialising in the Hammond organ, and has backed many of the current jazz greats, accompanying John Etheridge on many occasions.

My old friend George Double is recognised as a stalwart of British jazz and one of the most acclaimed and accomplished drummers on the jazz scene, having worked with many high-profile singers/musicians/performers. George is also curator of the popular Southwold/Frinton/Hadleigh jazz clubs.

The final member of last week’s quartet was legendary saxophonist “Art Themen”.

Art Themen (b.1939) is a renowned British jazz saxophonist who has enjoyed to a 60yr+ career on the UK jazz scene.

In the early 1960’s he was a pivotal member of the late great Alexis Corner’s influential Blues Incorporated band – regularly recording and touring the clubs with him.

In the mid 60’s he played in Long John Baldry’s Hoochie Coochie Men band, that featured a young Rod Stewart – before he became mega star.

In the late 60’s early 70’s Art Themen worked with ex Cream bassist ‘Jack Bruce’ and featured on his 1969 released ‘Songs for a Tailor’ album.

He played as a session musician on Joe Cocker’s 1969 hit album ‘With a little help from my Friends’.

Throughout his 60+ year career in music, Art Themen has played with all the legendary jazz greats, a list that includes the likes of Bing Crosby and Stan Tracey.

Even now in his 80’s – Art Themen still plays extensively on the ‘live’ jazz circuit, and there is always a great demand for tickets wherever he plays………as was the case at the ‘East Side Jazz Club’ gig I attended last week.

Now – the event at the East Side Jazz Club was a sell – and I was extremely fortunate to be granted entry by the club organisers, at the very last minute.

I took up a position at the very back of the hall, so that I could stand up and take photos without disturbing anyone sitting around me – so it all worked out just right for what I wanted to do.

So – getting to the evening’s event – John Etheridge, George Double & Pete Whittaker took to the stage as a trio and kicked off the evening’s performance with a very mellow rendition of the big Ray Charles hit “You Don’t Know Me” (one of my personal Ray Charles favs).

A couple of numbers in – Art Themen was introduced as the evening’s ‘Special Guest’ – and the musicians performed as a quartet for the rest of the evening.

Their performance was made up of 2 sets during which the quartet were able to demonstrate their musicianship and virtuosity on solo breaks during numbers – 4 very experienced and talented musicians – who clearly love and enjoy what they do, as much as the audience did.

After a short break half way through the evening’s event – John Etheridge kicked off the 2^nd half of the set with a solo rendition of the classic Billie Holliday number ‘God Bless the Child’ – after which the other 3 musicians joined him on stage to continue playing their set of top-class jazz numbers in their own inimitable entertaining style. There were no vocals – their set was purely instrumental, but John Etheridge and Art Themen gave background/backstory intro’s to each number – along with some humorous anecdotes about certain musicians they had worked with throughout their long careers.

As an audience, and in terms of entertainment value – we certainly got our monies worth as the quartet didn’t finish playing their final number until gone 11pm – it was a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable evening listening to 4 very talented musicians, two of which (John Etheridge & Art Themen) are viewed and referred to as legends of the jazz scene – the packed East Side Jazz Club audience absolutely lapped it up.

As mentioned at the beginning of this piece, it was my first visit to the East Side Jazz Club at its Leytonstone Ex Servicemen’s Club base – but it certainly won’t be my last. My understanding is that John Etheridge plays the Club at least once a year, so I will definitely return for his next appearance there, and in the meantime will keep my eyes on whoever else may be booked to play there throughout the coming months – it’s a friendly welcoming venue, with a great vibe.

So – that’s the story of my London Shoes night out last week – it was good to return to Leytonstone again, it brought back a lot of what are only happy memories of the place……and, of course, the music was great too.

Hope you enjoyed this Shoes’ story and it’s accompanying photos.

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See below the entire gallery of photos accompanying this ‘Eastside Jazz Club blog