Leveret came together when three award-winning folk musicians began experimenting with a fresh approach to traditional English tunes.

The trio, Andy Cutting on melodeon, Sam Sweeney on violin and Rob Harbron on concertina, are individually recognised as virtuosos. They set out to bring a new spontaneity to folk performance, relying on experience and musicianship rather than formal arrangement.

It works. Honouring well-loved tunes such as 'Jack a Lent', and less familiar manuscripts like 'The Height Of Cader Idris', the performances swing and sparkle, with rich textures and instinctive dynamics that draw the audience completely into the music.

The band members' own compositions sit comfortably alongside the traditional works. At Nettlebed, Rob Harbron's exquisitely wistful 'Dundas' is the stand out piece, but you can tell that on any given evening the mood of the moment will create a fleeting new masterpiece from any of the material at the players' fingertips.

When these three highly respected and decorated musicians first declared their intentions, there was considerable scepticism from several quarters of the folk establishment. A trio with a concertina and a melodeon, which normally play the same role as each other in a band context, risked creating a drone of conflicting harmonies. And playing without arrangements would surely lead to a tangle of competing parts.

But musicians of this calibre can make challenging ideas work in ways that can keep the whole tradition fresh and vigorous. The interplay between them is captivating, their ears and eyes working as hard as their fingers as they weave effortless harmonies and counter-melodies around each other in service of the tune.

Floor singers Hugh Crabtree and rising star Jackie Oates provided the openings to the first and second sets, and the evening concluded with an infectiously bouncing version of Miss Wright's 'Fancy'.

Folk music has been reaching fresh audiences for a long time now, thanks to acts such as Bellowhead, Seth Lakeman and Mumford & Sons. But purists may fear for the authentic heart of the music as performers like these push the genre into more accessible formats.

Leveret may have found the perfect balance of innovation and tradition. Each is a master of his instrument, and all are steeped in the heritage of the form. But they have the sureness of touch and sense of musicality that allows them to honour the tunes, while finding new depths to explore.