The initial idea for Chris Speed’s current trio - of drummer Dave King, both now joined in the newly-formatted The Bad Plus, and bassist Chris Tordini - according to Speed was to stay in a jazz-trio world and play more swing-based music.

That’s an unexpected diversion for the saxophonist, who’s been an integral part of innovative downtown scene alt-jazz bands such as Tim Berne, Jim Black, Human Feel and The Claudia Quintet.

Although Speed is no straight ahead-er, his all-originals on the trio’s third album certainly hint at the giants of the modernist jazz lineage more than any of the aforementioned work. Speed opens with a strong Mr Wierd-ish modal theme on ‘Advil’, and he makes every note count soloing, while the folky Rollins-like ‘Uncomfortable Truths’ is at once direct and exploratory.

Speed’s lithe yet limp, sour-tone on tenor is more exposed in the sax-bass-drums trio setting, the hypnotic Tordini and King complement it superbly with low humming frequencies and churning percussive sonics.

Speed’s ballad ‘Sunset Park in July’ has the flavour of similarly titled standards, echoing ‘Autumn in New York’ in particular, his old-school tenor inflections eschewing anything mawkish, as he journeys unpredictably through a fine set of originals.