Drama being Keith Jarrett’s middle name, fans were laying bets on whether this most brilliant, irascible and hyper-sensitive pianist would fly into a mini-tantrum during the concert. He does have form, plus hackles that rise at the glimpse of a cameraphone, but all was sweetness and light on Saturday night. Well, almost. He was 10 minutes late and gave a curiously peevish reaction — “are you all done now?” — to the welcoming ovation.

He opened with Tonight, that lofty Leonard Bernstein anthem from West Side Story. Its strong melody line and unusual chord changes deter most jazz improvisers but not Jarrett. Half-rising from the bench and twisting into concentration pose, grimacing behind Lennon shades, he probed for illuminating new lines.

Similar calisthenics, plus some trademark involuntary moans, accompanied another neglected standard, I’ll See You Again, which highlighted Jarrett’s precise touch and selectivity at slower tempos. Not until the medium-up Autumn Leaves were bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette free at last to build their celebrated trio momentum but if Jarrett has a fault it is in overextending a groove, as he did here on a one-chord coda which lasted interminably.

Part Two featured further obscure ballads, You Belong to Me and the minor-key Golden Earrings, before a fast neo-bop blues line which took off like an Exocet and sustained a phenomenal level of fluency and creativity. Their encore, God Bless the Child, played with a funk beat and maximum blues inflection, had to be an anti-climax after that.