The rare combination of trumpet- accordion-piano worked handsomely on Mare Nostrum back in 2007, and it works just as well on this slightly tardy sequel from Messrs Fresu (Sardinian), Galliano (French) and Lundgren (Swedish), who together have been dubbed the ‘Sound of Europe’. Mare Nostrum was also, of course, the Roman name for ‘our sea’, the Mediterranean, and you might say that the trio’s sound is a bit like the Med on a peaceful afternoon heading into early evening, aperitif hour approaching: rich in colour and nuance and memory, but pleasantly calm – no real hint of oncoming turmoil or storm. Original compositions are contributed by all three group members, and could variously soundtrack a Jacques Tati movie (Lundgren’s ‘Leklåt’) and the title sequence in a film noir (Fresu’s ‘Le livre d’un père sarde’, at least after the three-minute mark when Fresu comes to the fore). The covers are interesting too: Erik Satie’s ‘Gnossienne No. 1 ’ is smoothed out to a disconcerting degree and given an excess of rhythmic certainty, although it remains a great tune; Monteverdi’s madrigal ‘Si dolce è il tormento’ makes for a glimmering, reflective closer.