Any visitors who took in the show at City Hall last night could be forgiven if they rushed back to their hotels and demanded their discounts -- the temperature in that auditorium plunged from cool to way cool.

The Julian Joseph Jazz Quartet laid down a set of scintillating sounds that ranged from traditional standards to full-out jazz fusion.

And with Mr. Joseph's quartet, the appreciative (sometimes overly so) audience was treated to musicianship of an extraordinarily high calibre.

No special effects here, just four guys playing acoustic instruments in an obvious glow of sheer joy and mutual respect.

Leading the way was Mr. Joseph himself, the unassuming British jazz pianist/composer who coaxed more feeling from those 88 keys than would seem possible for a man just 28 years old.

A product of Boston's renowned Berklee School of Music, Mr. Joseph can already list the Marsalis brothers, Courtney Pine and vocalist Bobby McFerrin among those with whom he's collaborated.

Though he started out playing classical music, and it shows, hearing Herbie Hancock at age 11 put him squarely on the road to jazz.

He is gifted both as performer and composer. One of the evening's peaks came at the start of the second set with "The High Priestess'', one of his own compositions, a gem that built to a frantic pace and beautifully illustrated Mr. Joseph's virtuosity as a soloist.

It also illustrated the single blemish of the evening -- the crowd applauded every single solo, and because it was jazz there were a lot of them. If there were any subtle, or delicate riffs leading out of the solos and back to the central themes, they were lost in roars of clapping.

Though Mr. Joseph easily has enough original material to fill several shows, he tipped his hat to those who'd come before with some great old standards like "Cherokee'', "I Can't Get Started'' and "How High the Moon?''.

On saxophone was Patrick Clahah, who stood politely off to one side when not playing but made his presence felt when he stepped forward.

Particularly brilliant was his work on another of Mr. Joseph's compositions, "The Art'', a haunting, achingly beautiful piece of music that illustrated just one of the many moods of jazz expressed last night.

Drummer Mark Mondesir kept the time with a fluidity of motion and sound that truly was breathtaking. On the standard "How High the Moon'' he and bassist Reginald Veal, whose last gig was with Winton Marsalis, performed a "dialogue'' that effectively conveyed a sense of whimsy until it was brought back to the theme by Mr. Joseph's piano.

Mr. Veal came in for his own share of applause with several inspired solos, both plucked and bowed. On "Dance in a Perfect World'', another original piece, he and Mr. Joseph took the song out on a simple, but brilliant bass and piano riff played in unison.

The bassist also pounded, literally at one point, out a lovely melody line with Mr. Joseph in the evening's final number, "Beelzebub''.

This original was a perfect end to the night as it featured a real Caribbean "hook'' which, just as you thought you got your finger on it, would shift gears and careen off into a pure jazz breakdown before returning to tease again.

STEVE MUNDY JAZZ MAN -- Julian Joseph, British jazz pianist, played at City Hall last night.