Mel Gaynor spent almost 30 years playing superb drums with Simple Minds in studios, stadiums and sports halls across the globe.

But it’s also oft-forgotten that he was also one of the key British session drummers of the 1980s, and, in a 1992 Sunday Times poll, was named the world’s best rock drummer by Stewart Copeland, no less.

So it’s always interesting seeing such behemoths of the drums in tiny venues, often un-mic’d and playing small kits. And they don’t come much more intimate or friendly than the 606 – though the club always has excellent acoustics.

Gaynor’s latest live project eschews the heavy rock of last year’s Come With Me album and returns him to the fusion and jazz/funk of his youth (he started his career playing with Britfunk legends Central Line), alongside pianist John Watson, who has also played with Sister Sledge, Imagination and Mica Paris, and impressive young bassist Issy Brown. On this gig, they were also joined by MOBO and Mercury-winning saxophonist Denys Baptiste – a real coup.

A fit, healthy and happy-looking Gaynor settled behind the kit with no fuss and counted off ‘Got The Message’, a Crusaders-style, medium-tempo slow-burner, with a pretty Baptiste melody and Brown digging in with excellent tone and judicious use of his low B string. Gaynor was the epitome of taste and groove here, but still found time for one explosive ‘Alive And Kicking’-style snare fill towards the end.

Denys Baptiste, Issy Brown and Mel Gaynor @ the 606

‘Beyond The Stars’, touchingly dedicated by Gaynor to his late father, started with an African-tinged 6/4 drum loop, before settling into another pretty, gentle tune with a touch of Jason Rebello’s writing about it.

‘Preludio’, written by Watson, chugged along with a nice Morrissey-Mullen-style samba groove, and became a feature for Baptiste’s tenor, wittily quoting Dennis Edwards’ ‘Don’t Look Any Further’, with which it shared a chord sequence.

Baptiste also elevated ‘Zeta’ – apparently Gaynor’s manager’s favourite tune. The saxophonist can do it all, from Grover Washington Jr. soul to sixteenth-note meltdown, Michael Brecker-style. It was nice to hear Watson lay out for a while too, then return to trade spicy fours with Baptiste. Gaynor also suddenly raised the volume level by about 25%, shifting into fifth gear with some terrific Tony Williams-style fills around the toms.

This was not an evening of cutting-edge jazz/rock, with not a broken beat nor drum-and-bass groove in sight, nor was it volatile fusion in the Mahavishnu or Lifetime mold. But if Mel’s music leans more towards the softer style of the late 1970s/early 1980s, from Average White Band to The Crusaders via Incognito and Morrissey-Mullen, it’s no worse for that.

And the set showed Gaynor to be an excellent ‘pocket’ drummer, with much power in reserve. But then you already knew that from his work with Simple Minds.