"We play songs from the past because a tree with no roots has no future," Courtney Pine mused halfway through this barnstorming gig.

True, but in all great traditions, modernity can also be beneficial and Pine and his band acknowledged that fact with two hours of jazz classics given an eclectic revamp.

Pine is a producer as well as one of the world's finest saxophonists.

As someone who clearly doesn't believe in musical boundaries, it was perhaps no surprise that compositions by Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Oli Nelson were infused with influences of reggae, rock 'n' roll, blues and even drum 'n' bass.

Pine's equally talented band (two guitarists, a double bassist, a keyboardist, two percussionists and a drummer) entered the stage gradually to kick off with a high-tempo intro before Pine appeared to a rapturous welcome from the crowd.

The next two hours were a treat. The band created a fusion of musical genres to give jazz classics a 21st-Century makeover, without ever being in danger of perverting their traditions.

The rapid percussion provided the perfect backdrop for Pine's euphoric sax. The other players gave an extra dimension to the tunes but the rest of the band weren't prepared to be mere supporting cast.

Soon enough, one of the guitarists writhed under the spotlight as he searched his soul for the perfect solo, producing one of awe-inspiring authority.

It quickly became clear that Pine was not alone on stage in terms of technical brilliance.

In fact, he appeared quite happy for his bandmates to frequently showcase their own talent and this became a pattern for the evening:

A series of call and response interaction between Pine and the other musicians, interspersed with lengthy but enjoyable solos from each.

A few weeks ago, a friend infuriated me by saying jazz was worthless because it was impenetrably internalised, that the musicians play for each other rather than for the audience and subsequently negate the entertainment value.

As if in conscious refutation, Pine and his band proved this to be incorrect, particularly in the encore, during which the central performer was the crowd.

Pine spent the whole of the finale actively engaging the crowd, inviting them to dance, sing, shout and generally immerse themselves in happy humiliation - Blues Brothers style.

By the end, the gallery could easily have resembled Brixton Academy during a rock gig. Jumping, shouting and all kinds of insanity ensued.

Review by Peter Wilding, features@theargus.co.uk