JAZZ & BLUES

Taraf de Haidouks , the Romanian gypsy troupe currently attracting rave notices for their recent album Dumbala Dumba (Cramworld, via New Note), may not be everyone's idea of jazz. But they are good enough for Ronnie Scott's, where they take the stage all week from Monday - and their music is full of those jazz staples, vitality, virtuosity and improvisation.

Nor is Gerard Presencer, who is at Chelsea's 606 Club tonight, entirely in the mainstream. A young British trumpeter with an ability to mimic the likes of Lee Morgan and Donald Byrd that has brought him plenty of session work, Presencer's current Linn album Platypus sees him combining his pure tone with a funky rhythm sound to interesting effect.

Across town, at the Jazz Cafe, Camden Town, the versatile reeds player David Jean Baptiste on Monday previews material from his new Candid album Neuriba with accompaniment from the tasteful pianist Julian Joseph, while on Wednesday the same venue plays host to Niels Lan Doky, the Danish pianist and composer who has managed to become a pop star (in his homeland at least) while retaining jazz credibility.

Sadly, it is a case of what might have been for Michel Petrucciani, the French pianist who died earlier this month. Crippled by a rare bone disease that restricted his growth, he nevertheless managed to become one of the most accomplished pianists in modern jazz. He was due to appear at the Barbican in March, but listeners will have to make do with Solo, recorded live in Frankfurt a year ago and released on Monday by Dreyfus via New Note. A set of his own compositions alongside two from his beloved Ellington, it makes for a wonderful legacy.