FOUR guitarists, each of them leaders of their styles, play the Beaufort Theatre next week in one prestigious concert.

Martins 4, featuring Martin Carthy (pictured), Juan Martin, Martin Simpson and Martin Taylor, appears at the Ebbw Vale venue on Wednesday October 30.

The fantastic bill takes in folk music, flamenco, finger picking and slide, and jazz, each in harmony with the other styles.

Each artist will perform as a solo artist and then in union.

* Martin Carthy is a scholar and virtuoso folk guitarist. An evening listening to him play and talk about the songs is an education, to say the least.

At his last show in the Beaufort, an evening dedicated to the ballad, his stories around the songs and his own tales of researching them were as fascinating as the songs themselves.

Carthy is credited with "discovering" many traditional songs, scholarly research he continues today. His work has brought him into contact with gipsies who have shared songs with him that have been passed orally from generation.

Carthy's research of the traditional arrangement of Scarborough Fair earned Paul Simon an international career and a few quid. Simon failed to acknowledge Carthy on the song which led to a 30-year estrangement which was amicably resolved only last year.

Carthy started his career as a skiffle guitarist and singer with Thames Four in 1959, aged 19. He made his first solo recording on the collection Hootenanny In London in 1963 singing Your Baby 'as Gone Down the Plug Hole, later revived by Cream. He was already recognised as a serious guitarist and, from his residency at London's top folk club, The Troubadour, he taught songs to visiting Americans such as Bob Dylan who adapted Lord Franklin for their own records.

With Leon Rosselson, Carthy recorded as the Three City Four who brought their debut album in 1965, before making his first solo album for Fontana (also released 1965), which featured violinist Dave Swarbrick with whom he was touring the clubs.

From 1969 to 1972, he was a member of the folk-rock band Steeleye Span with whom he first played electric guitar. Carthy later joined the more traditional vocal group The Watersons, which also included his wife Norma Waterson. Their daughter Eliza Carthy has gone onto perform and record in her own right.

* Juan Martin is an awe-inspiring guitarist composer and all encompassing musician. His musical works range from solo compositions and dance accompaniment to fusions with instrumentalists from various continents.

The internationally renowned guitarist presents a variation of events from solo guitar concerts to his dance companies large and small through to his fusion projects such as Musica Alhambra and his latest group El Alquimista which has both fusion and dance. Martin, or Dr Flamenco as The Times dubbed him, was voted in the top three guitarists of all time by Guitar Player magazine. A native Andalucia, he performs with a highly distinctive style.

From early years in Malaga he went onto Madrid from where he ascended to his current status.

* Martin Simpson is one of the world's premiere acoustic guitarists, and a powerful songwriter blessed with a rich voice with lots of character. His playing is quite idiosyncratic, instantly recognisable, and revered among guitar fans. His body of work is diverse, encompassing all types of traditional and acoustic music, and he has toured with everyone from June Tabor to Steve Miller.

He is billed at the Beaufort as one of the finest finger pickers and slide players of our time and the essential connection between Mississippi slide guitar and the English ballad.

* Martin Taylor is recognised as one of jazz music's most gifted guitarists, having garnered critical acclaim for his previous solo releases and collaborations with Stephane Grappelli and David Grisman.

His mastery of the guitar has been likened to contemporaries such as Pat Matheney and George Benson. He is well-respected by fellow jazz musicians such as Diana Krall, Bill Wyman and Chet Atkins.

He has won Best British Jazz Artist seven years in a row and took home the Best Jazz Album of the Year at the 1995 British Jazz Awards for his 'Spirit Of Django' release.

Martins 4 calls on the Beaufort Theatre, Ebbw Vale, on Wednesday October 30 at 8pm. Tickets cost £14.50 and are available on 01495 350360.