Bandleader Guy Barker's set saw the use of a weird and wonderful musical instrument – the theremin – played by Celia Sheen. The theremin was one of the first electronic instruments created and is played without the musician touching it.

But Barker wasn't the first person to use the instrument to town – local musician Anthony Springall has been taking his theremin on a tour of the town's venues over the past two years with his band the Jawline of Julianne Moore.

"I got it about two years ago, so I guess that's when it first got played," Anthony said. "There are more of them about than you think. I went to a theremin symposium in London last year and there were about 40 of them in the same room, all different shapes and sizes, and we had a couple of dozen playing together, which was fun."

The theremin was invented in 1919 by Russian Leon Theremin and was the first musical instrument which is played without being touched.

The controlling section usually consists of two metal antennae which sense the position of the player's hands and control frequency with one hand and volume with the other. The electric signals from the theremin are then amplified and sent to a loudspeaker.

To play it the player moves his or her hands around the antennas.

It has an eerie sound, which has led to its use in movie soundtracks such as those in Spellbound, The Lost Weekend and The Day the Earth Stood Still.

It has also been used by some of the world's top rock bands including the Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones.

On its appearance at the jazz festival, the theremin played a vital part in the Guy Barker Jazz Orchestra's Sounds in Black and White. The piece is inspired by the noir crime movies of the 40s and 50s and the theremin adds an edgy creepiness to the sound.

Anthony said: "I didn't see the orchestra at the festival but as soon as I got there everyone told me I'd missed a theremin!

"I love the instrument because you become part of it when you play it. Every movement you make alters the sound. I'm a huge fan – it can do every sound in the book, it's got the whole spectrum on there."