Tania Maria is a great jazz pianist and singer who still just wants to be a pop entertainer. It's been three decades she since left Brazil to settle in Paris, before moving on to New York, and throughout her lengthy career she has refused to make much distinction between her love for good-time Brazilian dance styles and her technical skills at the keyboards. She just mixes it all up and tries to create an instant party, in which exuberance and bombast often seem far more important than subtlety.

This was her first London appearance in three years and Tania Marie was clearly in a mood to enjoy herself. She came on sporting a shock of red hair and dark glasses, and sat on a stool strategically placed so she could play both grand piano and organ, often at the same time. On the far side of the stage were her rhythm section, with bass, congas and drums, and right from the start she had them working flat out to keep up with her. The first song alone showed off almost everything she can do. There were passages of frantic, technically impressive but often percussive piano work, matched with bursts of scat singing and then sudden slower passages in which she proved that she still has a cool, slinky voice when she bothers to use it. Then she was off again, acting the flamboyant show-woman, and even within this opening song she invited the drummer to take a solo so she could dance around the back of the stage.

So it went on. There were new songs from her forthcoming album Intimacy ("which sounds better in Brazilian") mixed with old favourites such as Come With Me, and all were treated to the same cheerfully full-tilt barrage. She deserved her standing ovation for her stamina and good humour alone, but just a few contrasting songs to show off the more delicate side of her singing and piano skills would have made all those rapid-fire workouts sound even more impressive.