Outbound

On their first recording for Columbia, this charismatic touring band is making a serious move for the kind of commercial breakthrough (à la The Pat Metheny Group or Heavy Weather) that their talent and ambition should long ago have cemented. Thus, when Shawn Colvin's lilting soprano answers "Futureman" Roy Wooten's raplike intro on the bridge to "A Moment So Close," followed by exotic textures and metric changes right out of a South Indian raga, the effect is not unlike the Dave Matthews Band's sophisticated amalgam of pop and jazz-fusion. Indeed, Futureman's vocals key several excellent tracks, as Outbound finds these virtuoso populists cruising in the passing lane of popular acceptance with airs of Near Eastern, North African, and South Indian folk music abounding (and commingling with Northern European elements on "Shuba Yatra").

Guest artists Adrian Belew on guitar, Andy Narell on steel drums, and John Medeski on organ help flesh out several fine arrangements. Bluesy undercurrents, coy humor, and echoes of rustic and urban Americana abound on the title tune, "Lover's Leap," "Scratch and Sniff," and "That Old Thing." Even when a more jammy mood predominates (as on "Earth Jam," where one of Fleck's electric lines suggests both the tone and phrasing of a Jerry Garcia solo), the virtuoso imagination of banjo master Fleck and bass guitar innovator Victor Wooten are focused entirely at the service of the arrangements. A giant leap forward for the Flecktones and their fans. --Chip Stern