I missed the big Belgrade Theatre main stage gigs by EST (Thursday), Claire Martin ( Friday) and Jazz Jamaica (Saturday) but heard good reports of them.

Instead I took in Partisans at Saturday lunchtime and the full Sunday programme, which was for the most part outside under a cloudy but thankfully rain-free sky.

Soothsayers opened proceedings with some tight and sumptuous West African Highlife sounds. Silver-tongued guitars glittered and percussion chattered above the precise pulse of the anchoring bass, while the horns had just the right fulsome power and soulful edge.

Music made for the lazy sensuality of Sunday lunchtime, and a fine piece of programming.

The Annie Whitehead Experience is always a pleasure and always for the same reasons which are Whitehead's rich trombone and infectious warm spirit, Liam Gencoky's inimitable woody drum charge and Jennifer Maidman's inventive use of slide and lowstring cowboy guitar sounds.

Where I find less pleasure is in Steve Lodder's often completely inappropriate solos. In the otherwise richly developed Lonely Hearts Suite he produced a speeding technical keyboard display that was as insensitive to the mood as it was harsh in tone.

Newish member Dudley Philips was also prone to displays of instrumental virtuosity when a little more soul would have worked wonders. Listen to Jennifer - she knows where it's at.

A quick switch to the vaulted splendour of St Mary's Hall and the thorny issue of virtuosity versus satisfying musical communication once more.

This time it was guitarist John Etheridge, on his own bar a half-dozen guitars, and showing off his extraordinary technique on everything from standard ballads to bebop and rock workouts.

Now there's a difference between a solo concert and a guitar demo for anoraks and I'm not sure Etheridge judged it quite right on this occasion. It all seemed a little too off-the-cuff at times, charming though the man is.

He redeemed himself at the end with a thoughtful and deeply felt rendition of Richard Thompson's The Dimming Of The Day.

For instrumental virtuosity driven absolutely by the desire to communicate deeper pleasures and executed with standing-ovation success, we needed to go no further than back to the outdoor Castle Yard stage.

Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu has it just right, and has two collaborators who understand it, too, in Italian violinist Carlo Cantini and young Turkish guitarist Jan Ozveren.

A glorious set where the notes and beats - and there were very many of them, often at high speed - never got in the way of the spirit.

Peter Bacon