Name: John Martyn, Occupation: Folk rock veteran, incurable romantic, innovative guitarist and singer with distinctive slur and growl. Five-decade career spanning folk, blues, jazz, reggae, trip-hop and funk

Where, when and why in York next week: Grand Opera House, Thursday, 7.30pm, performing on his On The Cobbles Tour

Born: Iain David McGeachy, September 11 1948, New Malden, Surrey; only son of two light opera singers. Early childhood spent in Glasgow after parents split

Debut album: London Conversation, recorded in mono, October 1967

Landmark albums: Stormbringer, 1970, produced by Joe Boyd; Bless The Weather, 1971, embracing jazz; Solid Air, February 1973, career-defining album with electronic percussion; Grace And Danger, 1980, charting his divorce; Glorious Fool, 1981, produced by Phil Collins; No Little Boy, 1993, re-recordings of old Martyn songs; The Church With One Bell, 1998, Martyn's cover-version project, recorded in one week in Glasgow; Glasgow Walker, 2000, written on keyboards, not guitar

Did you know? Five songs from Solid Air were used on soundtrack to BBC film Titanic Town, set in Belfast in 1972

Yorkshire connection number one: Martyn released limited-edition, mail order album, Live At Leeds, recorded at Leeds University on February 13 1975

Yorkshire connection number two: Leeds company Phoenix Dance used Martyn's song Small Hours for contemporary dance piece, Shock Absorber, 1990

Total of studio albums: 22

Latest: On The Cobbles, released in Spring 2004. Album marks return to acoustic guitar and is his first since seemingly minor accident to his leg resulted in an infection that required amputation below the knee. In 1982, he accidentally impaled himself on a fence, puncturing a lung

Tickets for Thursday: £20 on 0870 606 3595.

Updated: 15:59 Thursday, November 11, 2004