Bass player Gary Crosby and Saxophone Denys Baptiste of the Gary Crosby Quartet, with special guest Cherise, at the new Blue Note London club in St Martin’s Lane [Tristram Norwell]

THE new Blue Note London club landed in St Martin’s Lane with an almighty splash recently, unleashing a tsunami of heavyweight jazz talent – Robert Glasper, Jamie Cullum, Erica Badu, Shabaka, Nubya Garcia. Initial reports from trusted Review sources were overwhelmingly positive, but I wanted to wait until the starry-eyed excitement died down a little to take in a more quotidian show.

Although, to be honest, without the unassuming, diffident man on stage before me, there might not be a Blue Note London at all.

Bassist Gary Crosby anchored the groundbreaking Jazz Warriors and Jazz Jamaica and subsequently (along with Janine Irons) set up the Tomorrow’s Warriors programme, which has nurtured a whole generation of mostly London-based players, such as the aforementioned Shabaka and Nubya, but also Ezra Collective, Cassie Kinoshi, Moses Boyd etc. TW wasn’t the only driving force behind the current jazz revival, but it certainly played a pivotal role in creating and popularising a UK-specific take on this once marginalised music. So, it was fitting that in its third week of operation, the new club found space in its introductory schedule to honour Gary.

First the space. Blue Note is down two long flights of stairs, a proper subterranean bunker that used to be a gym. But once you enter the room the only possible reaction is – wow! It is plush and lush with great sightlines and very good sound (in fact, it is better on both counts than the NYC mothership) with a capacity of around 280, with a second room due to open soon will add another 100 or so to the site. Staff are slick and professional, the food and drink reasonably priced for such a venue. It is now probably the closest London has to a classic Manhattan supper club.

The early evening show began with a performance by a graduate of Tomorrow’s Warriors, saxophonist Maddy Coombs, who was there, she told us, to pay homage to John Coltrane, with his tunes Equinox and Central Park West. She was joined by Genevieve Namazzi on bass and Zoe Pascal on drums, both of whom did her proud. Coombs’ tone was less abrasive that Coltrane’s, more reminiscent of Joe Henderson, although her new untitled piece, which began with a flute intro before she switched back to sax, was firmly in Pharaoh Sander’s pocket. She is a warm, involving and confident player, and I will seek her out when she is performing more of her own material (I have heard a lot of Coltrane of late) and a lengthier set.

One man who has his own highly individual approach to the saxophone is Denys Baptiste, who was part of the band paying tribute to Gary Crosby in the second half. Angular, questing and twisting, his playing can also be absurdly lyrical at times. He was joined by inventive pianist Andrew McCormack and the loose-limbed, effortlessly swinging Rod Youngs on drums, with Crosby (who suffered a debilitating stroke a few years ago, but is now as strong as ever) laying down the foundations.

After an instrumental work out to blow away any cobwebs, they were joined by vocalist Cherise, another beneficiary of TW’s mentorship. She is a highly impressive and expressive singer with a touch of theatricality – she was the love interest Kurt Ellings’s The Big Blind, epic “live radio play with music” a few years back. I particularly liked her take as the frustrated mistress in Oliver Nelson and Gail Fisher’s Stolen Moments. The set ended with a sometimes raucous, freewheeling version of My Favourite Things, which navigated a new path through both the Julie Andrews and the John Coltrane versions. A great night, a fabulous club, with plenty more to give – I am already looking forward to trumpeter Byron Wallen and guitarist Rob Luft – top players both – re-imagining Miles’ seminal In a Silent Way on November 25. For full listings see www.bluenotejazz.com/london/

Of course, one of the questions that arose when Blue Note London was announced was: what about Ronnie’s? The Soho institution that is Ronnie Scott’s has been at the top of the jazz tree for so long, it seemed like regicide to come into town offering a similar two-shows-a-night format, skillfully put together by Nick Lewis, who is ex-Ronnie’s.

Well, despite superficially occupying similar ground, they have a very different vibe. Blue Note has a swaggering Goodfellas-style grandeur (and a penchant for the liminal zone where jazz meets hip-hop), whereas Ronnie’s offers an unrivalled sense of jazz history, a warm, lived-in intimacy and – so far, at least – a broader palette of artists.

As broadcaster and author Robert Elms said to me: “There’s room in this city for both of them.” I think he’s right and we should be proud that London has nurtured jazz to the extent that it can sustain two such world-class venues.

You can see Gary Crosby with his quintet as part of the Albert Hall’s Late Night Jazz series in the Elgar Room on November 14, where he will be presenting a Mingus-themed programme. It is part of the EFG London Jazz Festival – details https://efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk/whats-on

For more on the Hall’s Late Nights see: https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/series/late-night-jazz

Meanwhile, Ronnie’s has an important celebration coming up as next year is the centenary of founder and tenor man Ronnie Scott. There is a birthday concert at the Barbican spanning generations of artists who have played the Soho club, from Art Themen to Daniel Casimir, John Etheridge to Camilla George, all riffing on the guv’nors (underrated) achievements as a performer, bandleader and composer. There will also be anecdotes and archive film.

The concert sold out almost as quickly as Glastonbury, but it is well worth checking for returns – https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2027/event/ronnie-scotts-100th-birthday

Other events to celebrate his life (and jokes) are bound to take place at the club (www.ronniescotts.co.uk), so keep an eye on the listings for 2027. There is also a persistent rumour that Ronnie’s will reverse the Blue Note invasion and open a New York outpost. Watch this space.