Danilo Perez, the Panamanian pianist, sounds like a character out of the Dr Seuss children's books. And it's true, he does seem a big kid at heart. "This is like walking into a dream," he beamed, opening his first ever set at Ronnie Scott's, a cute little hat perched on his head.

He had scaled down the party from the 18-strong combo of Motherland, his latest album, to the Motherland Project: the pure voice of Luciana Souza, Donny McCaslin on the saxophone, flute and clarinet, Adam Cruz on drums and the bassist Essiet Essiet.

Perez is used to supplying support to the stars but here he got a chance to show his mettle as a leader on stage and did so generously.

It was a night of infectious enthusiasm which began with a tamborito vibe introduced, disarmingly, by Perez playing a solo harmelodica (one of those blow-pianos).

Souza entered the tune on triangle and Perez wove in snatches of that old school assembly chestnut God is Love. Once the groove was launched, he went back to the piano in search of gaps in the rhythm, establishing a push-pull pattern against Cruz with a combination of montunos, arpeggio and unison melody that grounded the set and sustained a kaleidoscope of tempo changes.

His musicians had a relaxed, though not casual, approach which lent an unfinished, wistful quality to their sound. Souza, for example, mirrored McCaslin in several places but used her voice onomatopoeically, coming and going, haunting the tune rather than singing it. In other places she was commanding, her Middle Eastern tonality reminiscent of a call to prayer.

Perez meanwhile jumped back and forth between piano, Gershwinesque harmelodica and the odd clap, diverting applause into percussive subtlety with a brio that brought a smile to our faces.

• Until Saturday. Box office: 020-7439 0747.