When your raison d’être is to add some beauty to the world, then there’s a fair chance your musical palette will embrace a broad spectrum of colour.

Matt Flinner and his trio revel at that underpopulated crossroads where jazz, bluegrass and new acoustic music intersect. Colours here are expressed in cool, cerebral tones and in richly playful ones, with Flinner’s guiding mandolin beautifully underwritten by Eric Thorin’s assertive double bass and Ross Martin’s guitar.

A first cousin once removed of Alison Brown's banjo compositions, Traveling Roots is distinguished by tunes composed as music du jour – by individual band members in response to specific events while on tour.

Witty, fleet of foot and muscular in tone, this is a taut collection that reveals many more surprises with each return visit. compassrecords.com