It was only for a moment, but an hour into his Sunday show at the Festival Hall, Jan Garbarek almost did a little shimmy - then tapped a hand on his hip, and pretty soon was brazenly clapping to the groove. This may not seem much, but since the Norwegian sax star's body language normally makes Rodin's Thinker look hyperactive, it is actually nothing short of revelatory.

The single-set concert opened with the familiar snowscape wind sound that made everybody huddle into their coats. But the opening tenor-sax cry set a new mood with its raw Coltranesque urgency. A softly dancing melody with an early-baroque feel gave way to a fierce three-note riff, explored through the remarkable French drummer Manu Katche's backbeat-embroidery of glittering cymbal variations and explosive fills. The contrast between an intense collective jamming sound and the song-like simplicity of the tunes is always Garbarek's magic mix, but this version had an exhilarating new intensity.

Garbarek began life with 1960s New York free jazz, and American veteran saxist Charles Gayle stayed in that sound world. Later in the evening, at Southwark's Baltic Restaurant, Gayle unleashed an awesome improv deluge with his American trio, combining Ornette Coleman's playful lightness and Albert Ayler's jarringly soulful roar - and he played some spikily lyrical free-Monkish piano, too. On Monday at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, trumpeter Charles Tolliver - who adds a free-jazzy edge to traditional big-band swagger - brought an A-list of soloists (including the fine tenor saxist Billy Harper and agile baritonist Howard Johnson) to explore arrangements that fizzed with the crackle and snap of drum parts. It was unrelenting, but it both cherished the swing tradition, and disrupted it.

The London jazz festival continues until Sunday. www.londonjazzfestival.org.uk