Day 334. I'm writing you now from the Valley of the Silver Moon. (30/11/13)

So last night we saw something ridiculously special; a slice of heaven in a small hall in Liverpool city centre.

The Kazimier is an incredible venue. It feels circular but probably isn't. There's a dance floor/standing area in front of the stage, the band reaches the stage via a flight of stairs descending from a very visible balcony, the sides of the room rise all around. It's almost Shakespearean in design; it deserves grandeur.

Jonathan Wilson is unknown to the general public despite producing two of the finest albums of the past three years. A 39 year old who looks much, much younger, hails from North Carolina but works out of Los Angeles and is heavily reminiscent of the Laurel Canyon sound that came from that city in the early 70s; a touch of singer songwriter, a slice of funk, a dash of orchestration, a lacing of classic rock and on his newest album the definite hint of Floyd.

Impressive as the albums are (and Gentle spirit was far and away the best album of 2011, Fanfare certainly nudging the top of this year's releases) the live arena takes Wilson and his band (unbelievably for the sound that they make only a four piece) to a whole new plateau.

Starting the night with the bare piano and vocal introduction to the epic title track of the new album could be considered a risky strategy if not for the fact that Wilson has the voice of an angel. His first notes of the night were perfect, spell binding, haunting, the audience immediately captured. From the first moment the night grew and grew, one of those evenings where the band feeds the audience, the audience reaction feeds the band, everything circles and everybody reaches somewhere else.

Country stylings gave way to folk picking, to funk, to free jazz moments with every second utter perfection. As a band (twin guitars, vocals, bass, drums and piano/organ) we're talking about a group of players with a tightness and fluidity matched only by the E-Street band and Prince's well marshalled backing line ups. As an individual Jonathan Wilson is, without the slightest moment of hesitation in voicing this opinion, the single greatest guitarist that I have ever come across; unbelievably versatile and endlessly inventive.

There are two moments that need to be discussed; 'recent single 'Dear Friend' stood for a fair while last night among the greatest live moments that I have ever witnessed. The Roses playing a fifteen minute 'Fools Gold' at Heaton Park, Springsteen performing 'Jungleland' as the culmination of a full reading of 'Born To Run', Leonard Cohen with a hypnotic 'Famous Blue Raincoat', the Bunnymen hitting the swell of 'Ocean Rain' with just the right mood.

That feeling lasted for an hour. It lasted until the band eased into 'Valley Of The Silver Moon', a piece that lasts for seven minutes on record. Here the guitar solo to introduce the song crested five minutes, the song itself possibly nearer twenty. Build, release, build, release, stretch out and groove. In thirty years of solid gig going it is the single most incredible piece of music that I have ever experienced.

And all this in a small venue, a few hundred people at most, tickets still available at lunchtime for late converts, the night all the more special for the intimacy of the evening. Wilson's band is quite probably the single greatest band on the planet at the moment, they should be headlining festivals, their sound should be filling arenas. In a couple of years when their style has been approximated by lesser talents that sound will reach the number of people that it should.

Part of me wants to keep Jonathan Wilson a secret, keep nights like last night the exclusive domain of a select few, the few that have spent today using words like 'phenomenal', 'staggering', 'unreal' 'best gig I've ever seen', wants to ensure that we never lose the proximity to genius that we had in the Kazimier. Part of me wants to ensure that he reaches as wide an audience as possible.

Wilson is a musician's musician, he had the ability that we all wish we had; a multi instrumentalist, a producer of note. He's a man who has famous fans and walks with famous friends; David Crosby, Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, legends.

He's every inch their equal.

And there are a few hundred of us who will testify that last night we were privileged to be present at two of the greatest hours of live music of all time.

No hyperbole. Just simple fact.