This gig confirmed all the wonderful incongruities within jazz – virtuoso musicianship, breathtaking compositions and ensemble playing worthy of the great concert halls – all presented in a grungy room above a pub down an alley off the High Street. The excellent Kairos 4tet blew through Oxford and confirmed why they are one of the most in-demand of the newest wave of jazz groups emerging in the UK.

Led by Adam Waldmann on tenor and soprano saxes, the quartet play with a verve and style that held a packed audience right from the opening musings of Waldmann’s soprano on Prelude to Hymn for Her through to the deft ensemble playing of a metrically challenging Russell’s Resurgence. The rhythm section of Jasper Hoiby on bass, Jon Scott on drums and Rob Barron on piano are supple enough to make some of Waldmann’s challenging writing sound straightforward and Waldmann manages to walk the line compositionally, creating sophisticated, sometimes difficult, music that draws the listener in rather than leaving them impressed but disengaged. While the influence of Wayne Shorter and Avishai Cohen is subtly evident throughout the writing, this band has a really distinctive flavour.

Would the music have sounded better in surroundings to match the richness and quality of the musicians? Probably not – jazz has always thrived in intimate, edgy places such as the Spin and this club is rightly regarded now as one of the hippest jazz venues in the UK. But I was left at the end of the evening wondering how, when the creative industries are rightly celebrated for their importance, masterful musicians such as these remain barely acknowledged within the wider culture. There is something utterly compelling but also deeply disturbing about virtuosi plying their art down the alleyways and byways of the cultural life of this country.