Album: E.L.B. Dream Flight (Air)

E.L.B. are, respectively, drummer Pete Erskine, guitarist Nguyen Le and bassist Michel Benita. They're augmented by the reeds of Stephane Guillaume.

And as you'd expect of such a well-meaning multicultural bunch, they speak the international lingo of cultivated jazz-fusion, all elegance, mellowness and consideration. Yet among the good manners a spark of Weather Report-ish melodic incandescence sometimes flares, especially in the tunes penned by Benita and Erskine. What seems on the surface like a rather bland affair is quietly propulsive and sometimes even intense. Hang on to your alice bands, boys! NC

Pick of the Album: The title track: crepuscule with exotic fruit