A regular partner of the Irish vocalist Christine Tobin, Phil Robson is one of a crop of young UK jazz guitarists who combine the technical expertise of classic beboppers such as Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell with the bite and muscle of a post-funk generation raised on Hendrix, Scofield and Metheny.

Robson is more musically eclectic than most of his fellow practitioners here. He has a varied repertoire of multicultural materials far more deeply rooted in Britain than in Philadelphia or New York. The fine octet that played the Purcell Room this week was originally formed in 1999 for commissions exploring British urban themes and crossovers between local and Indian music. Much of the music from those two projects featured in the band's long set.

The octet was preceded by a solo set from pianist/accordionist Huw Warren - an original and similarly open-minded musician whose pieces took in John Dowland, Charlie Parker and his own fragile ballads. Robson's band then emerged with an imposing line-up including the sharply contrasting Jason Yarde and Julian Siegel on saxophones, accordionist Karen Street, and Tobin on vocals. The clamorous South African exuberance that had underpinned so much of Warren's piano set was extended into the octet's opener, with Yarde's fierce alto solo veering between a garrulous low-register sound and a brittle and plaintive wail.

Robson's inner-city imagery then surfaced in an evocation of a London riot, with fast horn ensemble figures skidding through Gene Calderazzo's inexorable drum tattoo and Tobin shouting imprecations over the melée. Town Hall Wedding had a southern Mediterranean prance to it; it was a powerful feature for Street's accordion and Yarde's hungry-cat split sounds on the sax. A fast funk piece confirmed that Robson can be as hard-hitting a fusion player as he is ingenious as a post-bopper. The soloing had the edge on the written material (just), but Robson's prospects as a composer are fast catching up with his improvising skills.