Guitarist John Etheridge concludes his Northern tour tonight at Wakefield Jazz. He will be joined by tenor saxophonist Ed Jones. Ben Crosland and Dave Tyas complete the dynamic quartet, more details from 01977 680542.

The Shire Hall in Howden is the place to be tomorrow night (13th), when trumpet virtuoso Bruce Adams joins Alan Barnes in a powerhouse quintet. Throughout the summer, both have been playing at jazz festivals (Scarborough included) with the Alan Plater jazz package, Songs For Unsung Heroes. Tomorrow the quintet is completed by John Donaldson, Arnie Somogy and Matt Home, more details from 01430 431535.

Also tomorrow, there is Trad with the Tees Valley Jazzmen at Jazz in the Spa. Details from 01937 842544.

There is a difficult choice in York on Sunday (14th). The usual jam session will be at the Black Swan, Peasholme Green. The jam session format is hosted by the house band (not to be equated with house wine, eg. passable, but inexpensive), drawn from York's finest young jazzers.

Also drawn from the finest (it is neck and neck, folks) is the band Square. Just as Spinal Tap went past ten to volume 11, so Square pushes the envelope that bit further to become a five-sided outfit. Fronted by vocalist Jo Swiss, the Square quintet will be at the Three Legged Mare, Petergate, from 8pm on Sunday.

On Monday (15th) in York, Nina and Karl continue their long and successful residency at the York Brewery pub, the Rook and Gaskill, Lawrence Street, playing Fine and Mellow.

The Yellowjackets are a high-energy, American jazz-fusion band, nominated for numerous Grammys since their 1977 formation. Saxophonist and co-leader Bob Mintzer is acclaimed for many of his other projects - writing for Buddy Rich, Art Blakey and Jaco Pastorius and playing for everybody from Thad Jones to Tito Puente. They will appear on Monday at the Leeds College of Music Venue at 7.30pm. Box Office details are at 0113 222 3434.

Tuesday offers jazz by the sea, when Scarborough Jazz at Scholars presents saxophonist Tony Burcherello. Tony has become a Scarborough favourite, with his warmth, pace and variety of material. Call Marian and Mike for more details on 01723 379818.

On Wednesday (17th), Leeds Jazz at the Wardrobe continues to offer nothing but the best. American guitarist/saxophonist Brad Shepik may be little-known here, but he studied with Julian Priester and Ralph Towner. In 1991, Bill Frisell recommended Shipek as his replacement with the Paul Motian band. Information from 0113 269 4077.

Universal Jazz continues its re-release policy with a couple of 1960s pianist/vocalist albums. Waiter, Ask The Man To Play The Blues, by Freddie Cole (Verve) is a bit of a puzzle. Freddie has a pleasing voice, not surprising since he is brother to Nat King, and also plays tasty piano, but an album devoted to blues is not going to appeal to any but dedicated blues fans.

A similarly obscure album is Blossom Dearie, Soubrette, but Blossom is a jazz celebrity and doesn't put a foot wrong in this selection of songs from Broadway shows, even though they are lesser-sung examples. Although the main solo instrument from the orchestra is (oddly) the xylophone, Blossom's economical piano is given the occasional outing.

Updated: 15:49 Thursday, November 11, 2004