Composed of 15 mostly traditional, mostly instrumental numbers, Skipping Rocks is notable for its consistent grace and taste. The Baltimore-based father-and-son team of Ken & Brad Kolodner bring impressive chops to the show. Ken's principal instrument is the hammered dulcimer, on which he is an undisputed master; he is also an able fiddler. Brad plays fiddle, but banjo is his instrument of choice. They're joined here and there by fiddler Elke Baker, bassist Alex Lacquement and multi-instrumentalist Robin Bullock.

The result isn't a hard-edged Appalachian sound but something with the resonance of a New England string band with rich texture and keen melodicism. Once in a while things lapse into an ostensible mellowness that an uncharitable listener might think flirts with new age, but I think that's not it; nothing feels sappy or sentimental or exploits cheap emotions. Focused and precise, the Kolodners' approach is as often austere as otherwise. Either by themselves or in the company of others, they create soundscapes that in the listener's imagination may take the shape of landscapes. The music, in other words, is curiously visual, as if pulled from snapshots of memory, collective and personal.

Sometimes it gives vent to more exuberant, in-movement sensation, as in the stirring reading of Dan Emmett's "Boatman," believed to have been written in 1843 and long ago absorbed into the American tradition. The instrumental arrangement of "Reuben" gives the impression of a meditation on, as much as a performance of, this classic, mysterious ballad of hoboes, train wrecks and violence. Another old-timer, the irresistible "Lost Indian" -- two fiddles (Ken and Brad) and one guitar (Robin) -- would have filled any rural dance floor in another era.

The four originals fall in with such organic ease that you have to check the credits to make sure they're not traditionals, too. Brad's "The Orchard," which serves as the opening cut, is particularly lovely.