Is it the tender age of his band, or the vitality of the legendary octogenarian drummer himself, that gives Roy Haynes’s Fountain of Youth their name? Tonight’s live performance offered to settle the matter.

Another Jazz veteran, saxophonist Peter King, gave a polished opening-set replete with clean bebop lines. But King’s dexterity paled alongside Haynes. Tap-dancing onto stage, the drummer snapped and crackled with an energy unselfishly expended in supporting his trio. Thelonious Monk’s Trinkle Tinkle, for instance, found Haynes content to incubate accents suggested by his band. His dynamics were equally receptive. On ballads Haynes provided lyrical cymbal-work so light that saxophonist Jaleel Shaw’s luxurious melodies could unfold acoustically. By contrast, accompanying a crescendo, Haynes attacked skins, rims and shells with terrifying ferocity.

Presenting his tasteful music with endearing innocence and playfulness, the drummer’s stage manner sometimes embarrassed his young trio. At such moments, his band seeming prematurely aged, Haynes, childlike despite his years, proved himself the group’s true Fountain of Youth.

– Matt Ellis