Until its six-figure make over last year, Ronnie Scott's history came in two phases: the "old place", as the original 1959 Chinatown basement was always dubbed and, from the mid-1960s, the present premises on Frith Street. Now that new ownership has driven Ronnie's glitzily upmarket and shed its widely-loved take-it-or-leave-it vibe, presumably its predecessors have now become the old place and the even older place.

But, if the 21st-century Ronnie's has an oddly earnest stylishness for some regulars, the worst fears for its core values have not been realised - yet. The audience (and staff) reaction to American-Israeli bassist Avishai Cohen's trio showed a hushed respect for a mostly quiet acoustic music rare for a Friday night in the old days, or the even older days. Former Chick Corea sideman Cohen, a double-bass virtuoso and fine composer who also drums on his bass and occasionally sings, is an attractive combination of a canny pop-hook writer, folk artist and adventurous jazz improviser - but he doesn't cut corners for unconverted crowds, trusting his material and his musicians to draw them in.

The trio played a lot of fresh material, some from its new Continuo album. A mixed-tempo piece with both Jewish and Spanish roots moved through tinkling piano meditations to dancing riffs and classical flourishes, and Cohen's subtlety with harmony changes under catchy hooks preceded gathering rhythmic impetus from the excellent Mark Giuliana's drums on Thirteen. A hypnotic piano vamp underpinned a stream of darting bass variations before the group took off on a Latin swinger, and Cohen's vocals worked well on a folk song that blurred the line between his voice and the sinewy countermelodies of the bass. It was hardly Friday-night party music, but the cheering crowd certainly recognised a trio of musicians who cared when they heard one.