Blue Note legend Sam Rivers may be in his 80s, but he clearly still has the funk pulsing through his veins. Whether playing the flute, the saxophone, or simply uttering such timeless profundities as "Uh!" and "Yeah Man!" during his cohorts' solos, he radiates good old-fashioned, streetwise sass.

Rivers has played with a bewilderingly diverse series of jazz heroes (Billie Holiday and Miles Davis to name but two), but much of his reputation rests on his devilishly tricky big band compositions. His latest tour allows him to re-explore these pieces in the company of a specially recruited British band, which includes Byron Wallen and Iain Ballamy. But first comes a trio performance with regular band members Doug Matthews and Anthony Cole, a bassist and drummer who also double up as clarinet and saxophone sparring partners.

It's an astonishing performance. Rivers sets the scene with some bird-song sax gymnastics, his tone feather light but piercingly intense. Underneath, the bass and drums whirl in perfect symbiosis, but when Matthews and Cole switch to their horns the music is elevated to new realms of complexity. The three voices weave fathomless contrapuntal melodies. They probe into every conceivable harmonic corner, sounding by turns like squabbling children and ruminating philosophers.

The arrival of the big band signals the wide-screen pyrotechnics. A 1950 composition called Revival bolts out of the gate like some demented amalgamation of a Buddy Rich show tune and Sun Ra freak-out, with added Latin flourishes. It's an exhilarating racket, full of poke-in-the-eye brass riffs, steaming trumpet and trombone solos, and a general dose of bombastic wit. Inevitably, this and the three other big band tunes lack the subtleties and dynamic contrasts of the trio's work, but the audience is by now delirious with excitement. A hot evening, in every sense of the word.

· At Turner Sims Concert Hall, Southampton (02380-595151), on Friday. Then at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London SE1 (0870 380 0400), on Saturday.