"A sound choice" to headline the opening season at Ronnie Scott's, was the critics' verdict on the Jamaican-born jazz pianist Monty Alexander. The legendary jazz club re-opened on Monday after a three-month refurbishment following its takeover by Sally Greene. "Inspired by the big occasion and a full house, he was on top of his game," applauds Jack Massarik in the Evening Standard. "A sophisticated improviser with a populist touch; his percussive soloing offers a lesson to all those younger players who seem terrified of venturing from the middle register", wrote Clive Davis in the Times. Alexander "brought his full orchestral gifts into play", declared the Evening Standard; his "dazzling right-hand lines were book-ended by percussive chordal riffs of an icy precision that kept bassist Hassan Shakur and drummer George Floudas on full alert". The subtly refurbished club also pleased the critics, with the relocated central bar, earlier start times and new smoking ban seen as all "for the better," by the Times. "The venue seems bigger" and "the acoustics are as good as ever".