What a disappointment. I cannot remember listening to a major US group with less enjoyment. Saxman Branford, pianist Joey Calderazzo and bassist Eric Revis are star performers, no question, but let’s be honest: their writing has never been in the same class as their playing and their formula is becoming seriously stale.

Among the tuneless originals rolled out last night were Return of the Jitney Man, a stop-start exercise by departed drummer Jeff Watts; Sphere, a tribute to Thelonious Monk unworthy of that great pianist-composer; Branford’s “English number”, Sir Roderick the Aloof, and a bland minor-key ballad by Calderazzo pretentiously entitled The Blossom of Parting. The group played all these at the Barbican on their last visit but with significantly more freshness and sense of discovery.

The two stars awarded here are for Watts’s youthful successor, Justin Faulkner. He’s a brilliant drummer but for long periods the arrangements strayed into rubato territory, which prevented him from swinging. And the booming, muffled double-bass solo Revis produced when left alone on the bandstand for five excruciating minutes seemed to last for ever.

This eagerly-awaited one-night stand couldn’t end soon enough, and that’s a painful admission to make.