Guitarist Jesse Molins to play at Jazz in the Bar at the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis

Jesse, a versatile guitarist, has evolved his sophisticated style working in the south west and London.

As well as leading his own groups he is a regular with the Dave Hankin Big Band. He will be performing a variety of well-loved jazz tunes with pianist Philip Clouts as part of the ‘Jazz in the Bar’ series at the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, on Sunday April 9.

Jesse started playing the guitar aged 11. His stepfather Jon Stokes, guitarist and trumpet player, introduced Jesse to jazz and there were many hours of jamming and learning jazz tunes. Jon would play Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk tunes and Jesse would listen and try to make sense of what was going on -the exposure at a young age was invaluable.

He studied jazz and popular music at the Musicians Institute, London. Jesse has had lessons from some of the country’s finest jazz guitarists including Mike Outram, Dave Cliff and Dominic Ashworth, and still devotes a large amount of time to practice and improvement. Jesse has performed with Mike Outram and the legendary bandleader and composer Mike Westbrook.

He has co-led a jazz jam session in Exeter for three years with Al Swainger and Gary Evans, and performed Scott Stroman’s “Jazz Mass” at Exeter Cathedral.

In addition to his strong jazz credentials Jesse is an accomplished classical guitarist, and as well as the incomparable Wes Montgomery counts jazz guitar greats Joe Pass, Jim Hall and the underrated Emily Remler amongst his heroes.

*Jazz in the Bar, Sunday April 9, Marine Theatre Church Street, Lyme Regis. Call the box office for tickets.