JAMES Taylor, one of Britain’s finest jazz organists and a man who has forged his own musical path as a king of the Hammond organ, has travelled the globe on his jazz pop venture.

It was the James Taylor Quartet’s fired-up signature tune, the theme from 1970s American cop show Starsky and Hutch, that cemented their reputation as masters of acid jazz, while their psychedelic and free-form jazz all added something to the band’s distinctive sound.

From the outset they were audacious and totally independent-minded – and JT has never stopped pushing at the boundaries as those who go and see the trailblazers play Kendal's Brewery Arts Centre on Friday, February 12, will note.

Their album Closer to the Moon, saw him melding a marriage of classical instrumentation to give a more considered touch to his own compositions and delivering a range of juicy new jazz flavours.

They even give Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata a hallucinogenic makeover.

“I’ve been into classical music for a long time,” says James.

“Music must have the fire to be really good, and when it does, it’s just amazing.

“Classical has proved such an inspiration to me, as did heavy rock and punk music when I was younger.

“Look at Beethoven, he was an angry young man – a punk rocker – who changed the course of musical history.”

Their latest album - The Rochester Mass – saw the renowned Hammond-driven sound blend with the Rochester Cathedral Choir and evocative film by Margherita Gramegna.

With its combination of classical, jazz, soul and funk, James describes the piece as having "one foot in church, one foot in basement jam."

His links with the cathedral began when he began attending evensong during his father’s battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

“I completely immersed myself in religious choral music as a means of coping with all that, and the music entered my soul.”

Meanwhile, this Friday and Saturday (February 5/6) is a another big one for the Brewery with the White Noise Festival, a joint initiative between South Lakeland District Council and the forward thinking Kendal arts centre, designed to introduce young people to cutting edge art forms. One of the most innovative events it has ever put on, the programme for the two-day festival, has been devised in consultation with a group of local youngsters and features performances from Sh!t Theatre, exciting young performance poet Luke Wright and top band Dub Pistols.

Also billed is an exciting line-up of fringe events and workshops, including a silent disco, mocktail bar, air graffiti wall, Question Time with local politicians and New Transmissions, a gig featuring some of the best young unsigned bands in Cumbria. Among the highlights promises to be Friday night's (7pm) Women’s Hour. Commissioned by Camden People's Theatre and winner of Three Weeks Editors Choice award 2015, Women's Hour is a cabaret piece of 'giddy, freewheeling silliness' (Exeunt) about what happens when women are given just one hour a day to think about what it is to be a woman.

The Brewery's new spring season has many must-see events, including a star-studded show to raise money for flood victims on Wednesday, February 24, starring renowned political satirist and impressionist, Rory Bremner.

Comedian Justin Moorhouse is already signed-up to join him on stage and more big names are expected to be announced nearer the time.

All proceeds from the Come Hell and High Water show will go to the Cumbria Community Foundation.

The Brewery's comedy programme also features on March 4, Stewart Francis, a comedian widely regarded as ‘King of the one-liner’ and star of BBC’s Mock The Week; Rory McGrath on April 15, and Alun Cochrane, pops into Kendal on March 18, with his new routine entitled A Show With a Man In It.

On the music front, there's The Selecter, who were also one of the bands at the forefront of the ska explosion in the early 1980s with tracks such as Missing Words and On My Radio; they appear at the Brewery with original frontwoman Pauline Black on March 4.

As for theatre, the top full-mask theatre exponents Vamos will be performing a Swinging Sixties story of broken hearts, beehives and sexual revolution entitled The Best Thing on February 10, and the life of formidable Carry On actress Hattie Jacques is the focus of a funny yet poignant show Becoming Hattie (March 17) about modern attitudes to larger ladies in showbiz.

Box office 01539-725133.