'Neither ghastly, hateful, nor ugly; neither commonplace, unmeaning, nor tame; but like man, slighted and enduring; and withal singularly colossal and mysterious . . ." Thomas Hardy was writing about a place – Egdon Heath in his imaginary-but-real Wessex - but the words also apply uncannily well to the music of Zaum, an improvising ensemble of extraordinary power and innovation founded in Poole in Dorset (fictionalised as "Havenpool" in Hardy's Life's Little Ironies). It was in Dorchester, Hardy's "Casterbridge", that the Zaum founder and percussionist Steve Harris died, at a time when his work with the group, recently remastered and reissued in a uniform edition, was starting to receive wider recognition.

The big bands might not be coming back but the form won’t go away. This incredibly assured debut from composer/arranger/saxophonist Richards and a 20-piece aggregation of young, often Royal Academy-trained players with Gwilym Simcock on piano, adopts a Maria Schneider or Vince Mendoza method with more sighs and whispers than rasps and growls. It’s at its best on the opening track "Dropping Pennies", with a show-stopping duo for Simcock and vibes-man Jim Hart heard between ticking rhythms and subtle reeds and brass harmonies. This is truly thrilling stuff.

What's a jazz album for? Is it an address to the listener or a musician's latest calling card? Saxophonist Tony Kofi is a terrific player (on alto, not soprano) but this amiable-enough set of boppish originals lacks any sense of essential purpose.

Like the trumpeting of the last leader of the herd, there's something majestic about a hard bop tenor saxophonist in full cry. On his second album Simon Spillett allies a tough sound to a Tubby Hayes fixation of monstrous proportions. On 10 tracks either written by or associated with the wunderkind English multi-instrumentalist, and recorded with a quartet featuring Tubby's drummer Spike Wells, pianist John Critchinson and bassist/ producer Andrew Cleyndert, Spillett blows up a storm. You can question why someone in their early 30s wants to do this at all, but it's jazz, see? The tradition is an old geezer who needs to be honoured.

The Windy City's twin traditions of free jazz and post-rock are celebrated in this stunning debut by saxophonist Roberts, recorded by Tortoise's John McEntire and featuring guitarist Jeff Parker and sax-man Fred Anderson. What's so impressive is not just Roberts's chops and tunes, but the thought that's gone into making the album work as a whole. An opening Ayler-ish squall is followed by an elegant exchange with Parker which devolves into blues before leading into the first of three "Birdhouse". "Nomra" shows a sensitive side, while "Love Call" has real compositional density.

Introducing, Warner

Molecular Gastronomy, Rune Grammofon

Elixir, ECM

The Journey, ACT

"We all live together, you see, and tonight this is for Jack," says Nick Mulvey, pointing at the saxophonist, who sports the looks of Jude Law and a chunky Norwegian jersey. "He sleepwalks and fell down the stairs last night." It's a genial way for the hang-player to introduce "Steps in the Wrong Direction", a track from this new band's first CD, Knee-Deep in the North Sea.

Ian Bostridge shines in a lavishly cast concert performance with the LSO, while a sugar-and-spice trio recital is a heart attack on a plate

In the shadow of Parker's mood

Sam Rivers played with Charles Mingus, Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix. Keith Shadwick meets the energetic octogenarian

TO THOSE of us for whom Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Gil Evans were immortal milestones along the highway of jazz, Grover Washington Jnr equated to a set of traffic lights on a minor road.