THE nation's leading violin virtuoso sweeps into Malvern Theatres with his trademark eccentric hair, all in black with chequered scarf and bumping fists with everyone he meets.

Nigel Kennedy, Malvern's most famous resident, hasn't played a gig in his home town since he opened the newly-refurbished Malvern Theatres five years ago.

But now he's going back on stage with a combination of Bach and Miles Davis.

"It's about time I did something in Malvern and thanks to our friends at Malvern Theatres I can do it at such short notice," said Kennedy.

The musician's latest contract with EMI bought him a home in Krakow where he has been developing new ideas, which he is now bringing to Malvern.

"Jazz is a proper and relevant music scene in Poland," he said. "During the years of censorship under communism, improvisational jazz was the only thing that was uncensorable because they had no idea what it was.

"It's the real music of freedom there."

He teamed up with Polish musicians like Yarek Smietana to develop the second half of his show, which includes Kennedy's own versions of tracks from Davis' seminal album, A Kind of Blue.

"A Kind of Blue is perfect man, the composition is beautiful," he said.

"I think it's Miles at his best with the best musicians backing him. Which is a problem for us because we can't make it any better.

"We are going to take Miles' material into more of a 70s era."

In the first half of the Malvern concert Kennedy will be performing Bach's Chaconne from Solo Violin Partita No 2 in D Minor.

"Bach is the one composer I couldn't leave behind," said Kennedy.

For the Bach piece, Kennedy will be using a violin made in 1735 by legendary Venetian violin maker Giuseppe de Gesu.

"The Chaconne is a very dark piece," said Kennedy. "Of course it has its light moments but you need the depth of sound you can only get from the Guiseppe de Gesu. You can't even get it from a Stradivari."

For the second half he will be using his famous electric violin, Violectra, made in Birmingham.

Fresh from performances at legendary jazz club Ronnie Scott's and the Albert Hall, where he played a double bill with Eric Clapton, the musician is looking forward to the date in Malvern, where he has had a home for more than 12 years.

Kennedy lists the two main influences on his early career as his mentor the legendary Yehudi Menuhin and the equally famous Stephane Grappelli.

"They were great influences for me," said the 47-year-old. "Yehudi paid for my education himself for 10 years at a very expensive boarding school. And he introduced me to Stephane Grappelli both musically and physically."

In 1992, Kennedy famously stopped performing live for five years, because he was tired of jumping through hoops for "money-making execs".

"At that time I felt like I couldn't do anything creative," he said. "The sales people and the business people want you to adhere to a formula so they don't lose money."

However, he made a triumphant return in 1997 and went on to record versions of music by Jimi Hendrix and The Doors.

His recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons earned him a place in the Guinness Book of Records for the highest-selling classical album of all time.

He has just completed a re-recording of the Four Seasons as part of a larger series of Vivaldi works.

* Nigel Kennedy will be performing on Thursday and Friday, May 8 and 9, at 8.30pm. Tickets are £15 from Malvern Theatre's box office on 01684 892277.