The JD Set @ Village Underground, London, 8 Oct

Anyone who's stayed up past midnight knows there's nothing quite like a live jam, when musicians all pile in and the music takes on a whole new improvised energy, whether a cover song or an improvised psyche-rock journey. For all the freedom of creativity, though, the best jams are usually those with a leader, someone who all the other instrumentalists can follow.

This is worth mentioning because the core idea of the JD Sessions is to present a pre-arranged jam using contemporary musicians playing alongside the Silver Cornet Band, the Jack Daniel's house band made up of a number of musical near-legends (proof of which comes, for example, with opening number 'Always on My Mind' as sung by Wayne Carson - the guy who actually wrote the song).

The contemporaries on show tonight are John McLure of Reverend and the Makers, Carl Barat (ex-Libertine and Dirty Pretty Thing, turned actor), and Brett Anderson (ex of Suede). Performing separately and then ensemble for a finale-rendition of Venus in Furs, it's impossible not to compare their performances. And it's in this comparison that the need for a leader is reiterated tonight.

McLure may be the most ascendent of the three, and a charmingly cocky performer, but it's clear he's just delighted to have had the chance to play with a backing band of the calibre of the Silver Cornets. Barat is disappointing, distracted and having failed to properly learn lyrics, he's close to embarrassing himself if not those performing along with him. Which leaves it to Anderson to steal the show. Only, it's not so much a steal as an imperious march through the centre of the evening, owning each moment of the performance just as he takes command of the music around him.

In interview before the gig, Anderson proved quietly defensive of recent albums that have been ill-received, and was modest about his new ability to walk through London relatively unnoticed. While this may be an indication of his psychological state, it's always a pleasure to see someone possessed of both soul and professionalism do their thing. So there's a powerful irony to the lyrics to Trash, the Suede song Anderson chooses to finish his solo section with: 'we're the litter on the breeze' he sings, simultaneously displaying the opposite to be true with his resolute star quality.