Trumpeter Lorenz Raab is a genuine stylistic hybrid, and moves easily between different quarters of the Viennese music scene, either as soloist with the Volksoper playing Puccini, in collaboration with electronica artists Dzihan & Kamien or performing with leading jazz players the Muthspiel brothers. XY Band was borne of an invitation to the Saalfelden Festival, and fuses all these elements together for a study in modal dynamics that has some of the Zen like qualities of ECM artist Nik Bartsch. A pair of bassists provides fresh texture and counterpoint, roles that move back and forth between Raphael Preuschl and Oliver Steger, pulse is further enhanced by drummer Herbert Pirker, while Christof Dienz is the free agent that responds to Raab's elegant and considered lines, as he brings the traditional Austrian zither into previously unexplored contexts.