Tin Hat Trio is a quietly subversive group mining original tunes in an exotic chamber jazz vein. The Bay Area-based group's hybrid of Old World exotica and New World chutzpah combines tango, bluegrass, eastern European folk, and contemporary classical music with elements of Klezmer, Cajun, and bossa nova. Accordionist Rob Burger, violinist Carla Kihlstedt, and composer and guitarist Mark Orton -- friends since their extensive classical training days at the Julliard and Peabody conservatories -- create an outpouring of rhythmic agility that is skillfully honed and inspiringly spontaneous, fusing the improvisational spirit of jazz, the technical virtuosity of chamber, and the adventurous exploration of the avant-garde. Last year the trio released its second album, Helium (Angel).