Overhearing a big band's odd fragmentation in rehearsal suggested the potential of an unconventional ensemble to Tom Ward. Splicing elements of his already unusual Madwort Saxophone Quartet and free duo Ti/om into Madwort's Menagerie, its concentrated deployment of strings, woodwind and brass is this sextet's point. But though Ward's prolific improv activity includes the abrasive likes of Sloth Racket and Article XI (alongside equally ubiquitous Menagerie baritone saxophonist Cath Roberts), this is a polite, even prim affair. Systems and cycles overwhelm improv fire, as with ‘Tribute to Tau’, built on two time signatures which reflect the title's double-pi symbol. It's chamber music mildly juiced with jazz freedom. Ward's concept remains sound. The birdsong-like contentment of Julie Kjær's flute on ‘Islands in the Green’, cello-burnished, pocket-orchestral unison passages and stacked harmonies beneath breezy melodies are among his Menagerie's hybrid assets. It still seems a light, rehearsal room exercise, lacking mongrel bite.