The quintet Pilgrim, formed by the now 45-year-old Swiss saxophonist and composer Christoph Irniger back in 2009, is an exploratory, warmly interactive ensemble whose music can’t be pinned down in terms of a recognised genre; or even as a crossover of various styles. Rather, improvising and evolving organically as a collective – one that’s been honed over more than a decade and a half of working together – seems to be the group’s raison d’être. There’s often a real sense of clarity and structure in their music, with a balance between the individual instrumental voices.

Recorded at the club Red Horn District in Bad Meinberg, Germany, Human Intelligence – Live sees Pilgrim embracing the avant end of rock, most overtly on opener ‘Hendrix’; and although Dave Gisler hits the gears with some jazz rock-fuelled guitar lines, the piece sounds like a dedication by way of composition and approach, rather than more familiar psych-rock guitar innovations.

‘Calling the Spirits’ meanwhile has Irniger’s sax echoing Cosmic Music-era Coltrane – but there’s a warm vulnerability to his sound that lends it a very personal (and pleasing) signature.

The band can shift very convincingly between angular New York downtown-ish jazz skronk and tenderly enigmatic lyricism; and Irniger’s fluid compositions tend to naturally evolve with fresh perspectives discovered along the way, thanks to the open-minded flexibility of the personnel. But there’s nothing here that [immediately] calls attention to itself.

For maybe that reason, Human Intelligence – Live is an album that’s not so easy to grasp at first, especially out of the ‘live’ context in which it was created. Given time and repeated listening though, it’s a grower – and in a deeper sense too.