Portico Quartet @ Summerhall, Edinburgh, 20 Jun

It may be mid-June but Summerhall has failed to live up to its namesake. Portico Quartet’s return to Edinburgh as part of the venue’s ever-brilliant and eclectic Nothing Ever Happens Here programme was meant to be bathed in evening sun in the outside courtyard, but the weather had other plans. This meant their set started nearly half an hour late, leading to one or two jokey hecklers as the foursome took to the stage of the venue's Dissection Room.

But for the most part, the band and audience alike decide not to dwell too much on the delay as Portico Quartet offer something quite unique that the Edinburgh audience has turned out in droves for. The intricacy and spontaneity of jazz, the refined technique of classical, and a taste for heavy bass and skittering electronic beats are all ingredients that the London group throw into their cauldron. On record it beguiles, the listener finding themselves wonderfully lost in its perfectly curated madness. The live setting is different. The intricate little nooks and crannies that help define Portico Quartet’s work are more hidden, sometimes even lost. The focal point instead shifts to the musicians themselves, and a constant amazement at how talented these four are.

Thirteen years of writing and playing shows together. While their faces exude little emotion, usually not a plus point in a live setting, the communication between them is obvious – an unspoken dialogue through instrumentation. It allows them to flow seamlessly between tracks, rising and falling in tempo and volume at will. Songs from across their back catalogue make up tonight's set, and small sax and drum improvisations on songs old and new are rewards for loyal listeners. The title track from 2009’s Isla is a particular highlight, where Duncan Bellamy’s percussion recaptures that perfectly placed intricacy found on record. A fusion of two older tracks, Line and Rubidium is perhaps a little protracted, but a welcome addition to crowd pleasers Ruins and Objects to Place in a Tomb.

Just as Portico Quartet’s recordings seem to defy genre, similar questions are raised when their music is played live. Is it music to dance or to think to? Or neither? Does it matter? These are the questions tonight's audience are asking themselves as some jerk limbs and others stroke their chins. It’s a mystery that keeps them coming back for more, and one that Portico Quartet aren’t going to reveal the secret to anytime soon.