The Brighton Festival Fringe programme has just gained an unprecedented last-minute addition.

Nigel Kennedy, whose brilliantly bold style has sustained a 25-year career as the world's leading violin virtuoso, has found a gap in his two-year schedule. And this time he's swapping classics and concert halls for a jazzy gig in Komedia's intimate setting.

Yehudi Menuhin's most famous protege, Kennedy became a household name with a recordbreaking take on Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.

With his punkish image and shatteringly intense performances, he became the superstar of the classical field, known for injecting old composers with fresh perspectives and a quantum energy.

But Kennedy, who opened his last Brighton concert with a spot of Jimi Hendrix, has always insisted that, "I am not a classical violinist". This four-date tour, the result of four-year alliance with Polish jazz group the Jarek Smietana Band, will be a chance to understand why.

"In the UK, people expect me to be performing on huge concert platforms," he says. "But for a third of the year I am actually playing jazz venues.

"We had some wonderful sessions like that in Australia, straight after four sold-out nights of classics at the Sydney Opera House. It's the freedom to move between genres of music feeling differing audiences and differing musical voices that excites me."

Kennedy, who is married to a Pole as well as being artistic director of the Polish Chamber Orchestra, joined forces with guitarist Jarek Smietana and the other four musicians in their native Krakow.

"The artistic communities there are really vibrant and express their emotions much more freely," he explains, "so performing together was a natural conclusion."

Part of "the joy of jazz work", according to Kennedy, is having "no idea" what he will be playing, but the Komedia set is likely to include re-workings of two of his favourite composers Miles Davis and Hendrix alongside new band compositions.

For those who know Kennedy as the spot-lit soloist, this communal jazz project may seem a little incongruous. But, for an artist whose multi-award-winning career has been all about making musical connections, it's really not so different.

"Even great orchestras like the PCO or the Berlin Philharmonic," he says, "are really groups of individual musicians with creative ambitions. "And if you've seen me perform, you'll know I spend much of my time facing the band, ge tting close to individual musicians, encouraging each of them to give more to the performance. That's exactly the same situation as with jazz."

Tickets cost £20, call 01273 647100.