Having played with Derek Bailey and Anthony Braxton, Dave Douglas and Joe Lovano, cellist Tomas Ulrich is well capable of beauty, grit and the shades in between. As a bandleader here, he proves exciting and inventive as well, redefining the string trio with a band that has already recorded two more albums (set for release this year).

Ulrich has already been implicated in undermining the notion of a string group with TECK, a strong quartet that also includes Elliott Sharp, Carlos Zingaro and Ken Filiano. And as with TECK, the guitar is central to shaping his Cargo Cult trio. Here it is Rolf Sturm who adds the populist bent to the formality of the violin family. Sturm is a talented and versatile player, having worked in the past in country and bluegrass (Eddy Arnold, Tony Trischka), groove jazz (Billy Martin, Illuminati), klezmer (Glora Feidman) and tango (The New York-Buenos Aires Connection). He can utilize the tactile noisiness of the electric without spinning out of control, and he can just as easily supply subtly metered flamenco stylings, as on his lovely composition "Blue Mood."

While amplification makes Sturm's mood swings all the more apparent, Ulrich and Bisio (each of whom contribute three compositions, with the session rounded out by a group improv and a graceful reading of the 1931 Wayne King hit "Beautiful Love") are every bit as ready to swing and roll. The trio displays a remarkable ease at moving from gentle jazz to slow moodiness to understated tensions. The promise of (at least) two more discs only sweetens the pot.