Carrier

Drummer Xavier Lecouturier features guitarist Lucas Winter in an excellent light along with his band of Ben Feldman/b, Gus Carns/p, Santosh Sharma/ts-EWI and guest Thomas Marriott/tp on an album of originals. Tunes like the spacious and pulsating "Aube" features Winter's warm strings along with rich tenor sounds while Sharma's switch to EWI creates a nice fusiony "Guitar Hero" for Winter's electric warrior of a solo. Lecouturier gives hip accents to "Level Up" and shows soft hands for Marriott's relaxed horn on "Waiting." Rounded angles are fun on "Monk Deriviative" and the team gives a Weather Report mood for the thrill ride of "Striations." Impressive.