BAR HARBOR – It is said that good things come to those who wait. Certainly it was so for the audience at the Criterion Theatre on Sunday evening who endured a warm, half-hour wait for the house to open. Avishai Cohen and the R. J. Miller Quintet’s performances were well worth the wait.

The R. J. Miller Quintet, which consists of jazzmen from Mount Desert High School, opened with a lengthy set of occasionally chaotic jazz played with the concentration, thought (and volume) of young musicians. As an ensemble, each member became more polished during the set. Saxophonist Sam Caldwell and Jesse Cameron on trumpet played well above R.J. Miller’s frenetic percussion. Bassist Kim Cass was best appreciated when the din quieted, as was the supple and sensitive playing of pianist Dov Manski, which the audience never heard quite enough of.

Avishai Cohen began before anyone quite realized it. At first, it sounded like a warm-up, the patterns so long they seemed at first random, until the mind began to twist around his plucking fingers, as the drums and piano kicked in and a soprano sax wove itself into the melody. The trombonist entered, playing a duet with the bassist as the piano danced around them like a child circling a sprinkler in the hot summer.

Born in Israel, Cohen has played piano since he was 11, and began composing when he was 14. He has also played the electric bass. Since moving to New York in 1992, he has performed with jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon, trumpet master Wynton Marsalis and jazz pianist Chick Corea’s trio, for whom he plays when not on tour with his own band.

Having returned from Japan only days ago, Cohen explained the positive effects of jet lag, “We care less – the music comes out – very honest.”

What came through was how much the ensemble’s members truly love the music, and each other. While playing “The Gift” from their second album, “Devotions,” the musicians looked lovingly at each other. “The Gift” has a bright Latin feel with nods to the Middle East and classical music. That kind of mix is common for Cohen; one feature was described as “Bulgaria meets Jamaica” creating a sort of Middle-Eastern-Baltic-ska-reggae-jazz thing.

If Cohen is excellent, so are his fellow musicians. Jason Lindner is to the piano what Cohen is to the sax, spending almost as much time with one hand on the strings inside as on the keys outside. Fellow American Jeff Ballard seemed capable of evoking anything with his skilled percussion talents. Israeli trombonist Avi Lebovich played with much finesse while Cuban native Yosvoni Terry danced as he played his soprano saxophone with unbridled joy.

Cohen’s new album, “Colors,” from which several of the evening’s selections came, is appropriately named for the synethesiatic feeling Cohen gets around the sounds of jazz. Blue for this chord; gold for that one. If honesty can be heard in song, there were many colors in the sounds of the warm evening. Though the band was bathed in blue, one could clearly hear saffron yellows of the Middle East, the reds of Latin American peppers and the verdant greens of the tropics as they left the stage into the quiet of a late, foggy night.