IT feels like I’ve watched Paul Jones perform about a billion times.

I first saw him fronting the original Manfred Mann back in the mid-Sixties, then singing solo and appearing on the West End stage.

There have also been countless Blues Band gigs, the reformed Manfreds, appearances as part of a duo with Dave Kelly and various Maximum Rhythm and Blues line-ups.

But I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed him looking quite as happy as when sharing a stage with jazz trumpeter Digby Fairweather and his brilliant band The Half Dozen.

This intriguing collaboration, which combines swing, Dixie and gospel with blues, R&B and pop, really works.

Partly because every person on stage is a consummate professional but also because of their obvious joy at getting to play together.

So an evening that throws music by Louis Jordan, Jimmy Witherspoon and Irving Berlin into a programme alongside ageing top ten hits like Pretty Flamingo and Bad Bad Boy, somehow suddenly delivers an experience that is far greater than the sum of its parts.

A great evening featuring some truly astonishing players – not least Julian Marc Stringle on reeds and Craig Milverton on piano.