Apartment House/Elaine Mitchener review – poetry and provocations

Charles Mingus’s string quartet was the central work in a fascinating programme that shone a light on music drawn from the US experimental scene

Binker and Moses: Feeding the Machine review – free jazz meets electronics in outer space

The sax of Binker Golding and the drums of Moses Boyd are joined by the modular synths of Max Luthert on this wild, atmospheric fourth album

Sélène Saint-Aimé: Potomitan review – earthly yet spiritual sounds from the Caribbean

The jazz bassist and vocalist returns with enigmatic, fluid compositions that draw on her heritage in Martinique

Avishai Cohen: Naked Truth review – bold adventure from the trumpeter

An evocative mini album performed by band members who never lose their individuality is beautifully executed

Melt Yourself Down: Pray for Me I Don’t Fit In review – ambitious jazz visions realised to thrilling effect

This fascinating band once seemed almost too eclectic – but now strong melodies and hooks drive an album that feels entirely of the moment

‘Louis Prima has been in my head since I first saw The Jungle Book’: Stephen Moyer’s honest playlist

The True Blood actor on growing up in a house full of jazz and rock’n’roll, and his daughter introducing him to Mother Mother

Theon Cross review – more oomph than oompah from jazz-tuba champion

Backed by a highly capable band, the Sons of Kemet star seems to have gills as he generates astonishing beats, textures and melodies with his instrument

Julie Sassoon Quartet: Voyages review – the sound of a fascinating original

The pianist and her long-running quartet’s buzzing and lucidly eloquent set mirrors lockdown’s swerves between isolation and longing

Chris Laurence: Ken Wheeler – Some Gnu Ones review – magical and possibly unique

Laurence’s double bass is the unusual star of three works written with it in mind by his longtime collaborator, the late Ken Wheeler

Lady Blackbird: Black Acid Soul review – understated and utterly haunting

Marley Munroe finds her calling with an extraordinary collection of songs and performances that burn deep into you

Modern Nature: Island of Noise review – mesmerising musical riff on Shakespeare

Jack Cooper swerves the cliches with this transporting, melodic album, adding free jazz to a treasure trove of ideas

Makaya McCraven: Deciphering the Message review – ingenious hard-bop homage

‘Beat scientist’ McCraven balances jazz’s tradition with its future, sympathetically updating the Blue Note hard-bop 60s catalogue

Damon Locks – Black Monument Ensemble review – an eruption of groove-driven free jazz

EartH, LondonBringing the adventurous spirit of Chicago to the London jazz festival, Locks directs his group through black-caped dance – and they respond with an astonishing tumult of sound

Johnathan Blake: Homeward Bound review – virtuosi jazz unit scorch and shimmer

Drummer Blake joins with Dezon Douglas, Immanuel Wilkins, Joel Ross and David Virelles to create enthralling post-bop, soul jazz and Coltraneian pop

Nubya Garcia review – music does the talking in triumphant comeback

The Londoner’s cosmopolitan jazz comes loaded with meaning and emotion, but she also proves to be an engaging raconteur