Opabinia, the double bassist Dominic Lash's new album, represents the wide spectrum of what constitutes the more experimental side of jazz on the UK scene today. He's based in Bristol, is part of the Oxford Improvisers Collective and is fast establishing a name for himself on the left field circuit playing with the likes of Evan Parker, Joe Morris and Ingrid Laubrock. He has also played the electric bass, a less frequent sideline, with the late drumming legend Steve Reid. A contemporary of his, the pianist Alexander Hawkins with whom he co-leads Convergence Quartet, formed a trio with percussionist Javier Carmona in 2009 and the band here is augmented by the multireeds man Ricardo Tejero, as with Carmona, another London-based Spanish national. The quartet draws its energy from the 1970s loft jazz scene as much as the side of experimental improv originating from European contemporary classical music; among the many highlights are Hawkins' flying solo on Lash's fine ‘Waiting for Javier’; the film noir-ish ‘Lullaby of the Limpet’ and the stealthily minimalistic probing of ‘Piano Part two/Catachretic’.