The Six, as this bustling Chelsea basement boîte is fondly called, hosts contemporary jazz seven nights a week. Manager Steve Rubie is noted for giving young talents their first break, often on the recommendation of fellow musicians, and last night was such an event.

Lining up alongside three established British sax stars, altoist Peter King and tenorists Mornington Lockett and Julian Siegel, was a 19-year-old from Budapest. “His name is Gabor Bolla,” said Rubie. “Or if you’re Hungarian, Bolla Gabor.” A party of visiting supporters cheered anxiously.

They had nothing to worry about. Barrel-chesting his way confidently into Blues on the Corner in a quintet with Lockett, pianist Gareth Williams, bassist Arnie Somogyi and drummer Tristan Maillot, young Bolla revealed himself a tenorman of enviable technique, solid jazz feel and remarkable maturity. His tone was broad and his ideas fluent in a style that reflected Coltrane and earlier masters such as Dexter Gordon.

Lockett, who had recommended him, responded with some fast-fingered brilliance. Playing a new silver tenor, his solo version of Lover Man was a mercurial mix of the finest cadences minted by George Coleman and the late Michael Brecker.

Enter King, the most durable of British saxophone masters and arguably the most impressive. A pro for 50 years, he is still dazzling and as he duelled with Siegel on How Deep is the Ocean his power and reflexes were undimmed.

Siegel, a more convoluted phrasemaker, gave the more original solo but King’s outstanding neo-bop fluency, executed as always with passion and unfailing accuracy, tipped the scales. The septet finally locked horns on Coltrane’s Impressions, with honours shared in the best Jazz at the Philharmonic tradition.
Until Sunday. (londonjazzfestival.org.uk, bbc.co.uk/radio3).