“Definitely my favourite club to play outside London - wonderful house band and hugely appreciative audience. It’s really a place where you can ‘go for it’; I’ve been playing there for 20 years - long may it continue”
We aim to create a scintillating night out for anybody with a taste for interesting, exciting, alluring and luscious music!
The Spin is a club that presents live music of the highest calibre within a broad ‘contemporary jazz’ genre. By this, we mean that whoever we put on will have an energy and spark that will be compelling to listen to – very much including to those who might have the view that they ‘don’t like jazz’!
To illustrate the use of the word ‘broad’, here are some diverse things the club has put on:
David Binney; Jonathan Kreisberg; Miguel Zenon: all cutting edge New York players.
Accent: International (Take Six style) vocal group
The Impossible Gentlemen: A-list international superstars: a band of gorgeousness.
Gilad Atzmon & the Orient House Ensemble: Middle-Eastern/world music meld.
John Etheridge: UK’s brilliant guitarist (who’s worked with all sorts from Stéphane Grappelli to John Williams).
The gigs are presented in an informal ‘jazz club’ atmosphere: there are no ‘keep quiet during performances’ cards on the tables; we rely on the magnetism of the bands on the stage to demand the attention of the audience.
In brief: we aim to create a scintillating night out for anybody with a taste for interesting, exciting, alluring and luscious music!
The Spin is run by Pete Oxley in partnership with Stuart Miller.
The Spin Jazz Club established in Oxford Thursday May 13th 1999
Pete Oxley & Mark Lockheart playing at the second Spin gig May 20th 1999
A Very Brief History
The Spin began with its first gig on May 13th 1999. The house band of Pete Oxley (gt.) Raph Mizraki (bass) and Mark Doffman (drums) remained more or less constant for 20 years – and in the same venue for that duration (upstairs, above the Wheatsheaf pub in Oxford). The opening guest on that auspicious night was the great guitarist, John Etheridge.
Since then, (and soon falling into the pattern of ‘3 weeks: house band plus guest’ then the following week, a touring band), the Spin trio has backed artists totaling nearly 500 gigs. Of the touring bands, The Spin has hosted national and international artists, including:
Tim Garland, Jeff Ballard, Gwilym Simcock, David Binney, Julian Arguelles, Huw Warren, Steve Rodby, Adam Nussbaum, Roger Beaujolais, Dave O’Higgins Wolfgang Muthspiel….
Opening guitar supremo Etheridge became a Spin favourite and has played every ‘birthday gig’ over the last 20 years, often with additional guests (including twice, memorable nights with violin virtuoso, Nigel Kennedy).
In 2020, Covid forced the closure of the Wheatsheaf as a venue, but The Spin only sees this as a spur to move on to pastures new; watch this space!
“As an international touring artist, I can safely say that if the name of the game is to present one’s art form and have a damn good time doing it, then ‘The Spin’ is definitely one of my favourite clubs in the world!”
“The Spin jazz club has become the Oxford hang for the very best available on the national and indeed the international jazz scene. Pete and Mark deserve an OBE!”
“The Spin is where music meets its true audience and musicians meet their true selves”
“Pete has created an unparalleled environment for live music and I can’t wait to join his kats again. Live musicians of the world, unite!”