Taylor is known across the world for making audiences wonder how he manages to magic such brilliant melody, rhythm and bass parts simultaneously.

This homecoming gig wasn't about wizardry, however, so much as making every song sing the blues. Whether gleaned from the pen of Hoagy Carmichael, a recording by the Carpenters, his own memories of the Caribbean or the suite he and his pal from schooldays, trumpeter Guy Barker will perform with the Britten Sinfonia at the London Proms next month, Taylor framed each melody with soulful clarity and freshness. And when he did turn on the one-man-trio style, it swung with a sense both of fun and of technique put entirely at the service of the music.