Using compositional form as a way to prise open space for improvisation is, of course, second nature to the British bassist andcomposer Barry Guy and to Swiss percussionist Lucas Niggli who, alongside his work as a jazz and rock drummer and improviser, has long expressed a keen interest in modern composition: he's performed music by John Cale and John Cage. But this is Jürg Wickihalder's gig and the saxophonist has created a distinctive book of compositions for his trio clearly designed to play to his musician's strengths while nudging them towards directions beyond their usual stylistic affiliations. Hearing Barry Guy play straight jazz time is quite the revelation. In ‘The Valley’ he pulls together independently moving lines with an abruptly asserted walking bass – a moment that's pure Mingus – and ‘Dipper’ requires him to dig deep into a bossa nova rhythm which, once up and running, keeps floating off centre. Wickihalder is a considered improviser, though sometimes his reliance on turkey-like cackles and squawks becomes a mannerism. ‘A New One’ finds him at his best, spinning merrily between rapidly changing inflections of texture and harmony, the form forever malleable and hanging by a thread.