4+4+1ILK Music ***

For such a liberated art form, it's curious how rarely free jazz and mainstream post-bop jazz interbreed. Generally the free variety is defiantly formless, as if to play anything pre-ordained would be a betrayal of a fundamental principle. On the other side, the mainstreamers always want to know where "one" is, even if – indeed particularly if – the underlying structure is entirely opaque to the audience. Danish guitarist Mark Solborg's compositions describe a space where the two approaches can co-exist, setting up harmonic and textural templates, which the members of his eight-piece ensemble proceed to explore without restraint. The "+1" on the bill is adventurous US saxophonist Chris Speed, also a musician who has proved his worth at both ends of the spectrum. With Solborg's guitar channelling a European version of Bill Frisell, this is cutting- edge stuff from hip Danish musicians' collective ILK. ilkmusic.com