There may be scepticism around Dutch bassist Luc Ex as a punk-noise artist entering the jazz arena, daring to lead a band and not solo. Yet that is immaterial. Assemblée is an interesting ensemble in which the aesthetic is a streamlined harmonic framework where the distinctive tone of the leader's acoustic bass guitar, with its often wiry chords and springy single notes, lays down a solid groove pivot for the drums and horns. For the most part the songs have appealingly catchy hooks, above all when a mildly flamenco or Balkan gypsy flavour permeates the rhythm, and the unison lines really start to sing. Having said that there is no one piece in particular that lands the knockout punch, and it feels as if Ex could have exercised much greater lateral thinking as an arranger. Breaking the group down so that there was some extended interplay between the horns and drums, and also making much more of the timbral richness of Baars' shakuhachi flute, particularly on the quieter numbers, would have been a welcome strategy. Fitting into a long lineage of groups that are stylistically hard to define, Assemblée has an obvious potential but the work in progress simply needs work.