Cittern, prim, tambura (look 'em up -- I did!), fiddle, piano, mandolin, and more combine with the talents of Julie King, Dave Bartley, and Claude Ginsburg to create a richly interpreted, stunningly arranged collection of original and traditional "fiddle tunes infiltrated by foreign agents." Amidst influences of Eastern Europe, Brazil, the Baroque era, French Canada, Ireland, England, we find the mildly sinister and Balkanesque Trip to Sofia played alongside the chipper Irish reel, The Reconciliation; a silly and skilled original polka set; Dave Bartley's lamenting Merry Waltz; a highly danceable French Canadian set; a fugue; Contra-intelligence, wherein the reel Julia Delaney is played against an original and highly experimental musical backdrop; the list goes on. When KGB plays a contra dance, King's piano ripples and rolls, Bartley's strings have punctuality and resonance, Ginsburg's fiddle has more voices than a choir, and dancers literally leave the floor from the excitement. They've captured that energy here with mastery and humor and without self-importance. This album left me with a sense of humility at the power of the music itself, which these three musicians so beautifully and sensitively express.