Sleeve Notes — John Martyn · Solid Air

John Martyn — Solid Air

8 December 2026 · Doors 7:00pm · Sleeve Notes — The Listening Salon at Circle & Star
Hosted by Jonathan Wingate

The story first. Then the record, in full. One album an evening — opened up, talked through, then played end to end. Lights low. Phones away. Fifty-five seats, listening together. This is not a gig. It's a salon, where the album is the star of the evening.

Side A · Discussion — a guided deep dive into Solid Air: written for Nick Drake, the Echoplex, the slur.
Interval — a short break, a light refreshment.
Side B · Listen — John Martyn's Solid Air, in full, in the dark, in company.

1973. Jazz-warm and water-loose — the Echoplex glowing, the voice slurred to honey. The title track was written for Nick Drake; the whole record drifts like its name.

Your host — Jonathan Wingate
Jonathan Wingate spent years as the spokesman for David Bowie and Sir Bob Geldof before turning to journalism. He writes for The Times, the Daily Telegraph, Mojo and Rolling Stone, and has interviewed everyone from Sir Paul McCartney, Sir George Martin and Robert Plant to Björk, Smokey Robinson and Tony Bennett. A regular voice on BBC television and radio.

🗓 8 December 2026 · Doors 7:00pm · Side A 7:30pm · Out by 10:00
📍 28 Heath Street, Hampstead NW3
🎟 55 seats only · £18

STEP IN. COME UP. BE PART OF THE STORY.