It's strang ... that's strange without the e. And "strang" is how British Columbians Jesse Zubot and Steve Dawson describe the eclectic mix of folk, jazz, blues and bluegrass they've been evolving since the recording of their debut album in 1998.

Chicken Scratch is the third album for Zubot & Dawson and it reached my CD player by way of a friend who works in the music industry. He hadn't heard the album but assured me that the buzz at True North Records, Bruce Cockburn's label, meant this recording was likely something special. And it is! Chicken Scratch is wall-to-wall guitar-and-fiddle-based brilliance. The playing is relaxed and seemingly effortless. Careless precision is an oxymoron that springs to mind. The arrangements, which include the occasional trumpet, clarinet, accordion and even an AM radio, are inventive, tight and exceptionally effective at highlighting the masterful musicianship of the core players.

In addition to Zubot on fiddle and mandolin and Dawson on guitars (including a Weissenborn Hawaiian guitar), the band features Andrew Downing on double bass and Elliot Polsky on drums and percussion. Chicken Scratch also includes a pair of tracks augmented by vocalist Kelly Joe Phelps. Phelps turns in a picture perfect reading of Robert Johnson's "Hellhound on My Trail" and then nearly matches the emotional punch of that track with his take on John Martyn's "May You Never."

The vocal tracks provide a wonderful balance on Chicken Scratch, allowing the listener to relax into a structurally simpler mode before the fiddle and guitar licks are off and flying once again. One of the most impressive things about this recording is that the virtuosity isn't about speed. While the opening track, "Ed's Wake," certainly demonstrates that Zubot's and Dawson's fingers can fly across a fret board, there's a power behind the playing that is particularly evident in slower tracks like "Two Caps" and "The King of America."

About the only time this CD falters for me is on the Cuban-influenced track "Paloma," which struck me as a rather goofy composition. The album doesn't quite recover its footing on the following track but by the time "The Chomp" begins the stride is once again relaxed and confident.

One final noteworthy aspect to Chicken Scratch is the superb album artwork which perfectly captures the delightful strangeness of Strang. So keep your eyes peeled for Zubot & Dawson's Chicken Scratch.