Pianist and guitarist Rand Lines is one of Athens' more conservative jazz musicians. By "conservative," I don't mean stuffy, narrow-minded or nostalgic; I mean simply that you won't hear any jam-band digressions, fusion pyrotechnics or ametrical freakouts in his work with his trio or The Ramekins. In other words, his music doesn't challenge Wynton Marsalis' idea of jazz.

To merely pinpoint Lines' sound along a continuum, though, is to miss the point. Learning Sanskrit, his first recording with drummer Jason Cheek and bassist Dennis Baraw, is less concerned with tracing jazz's boundary lines than with exploring the space within them. Compositionally, texturally, emotionally, the album's eight songs are diverse. "Gingerbread Man," with its stuttering intro and pull-push dynamics, swings like a cut from one of those heady Blue Note LPs from the '60s. The dewy cymbals, probing bass and fluid electric guitar work in "Poplar" recall classic material from another great jazz imprint, the atmospheric ECM label.

For a debut release, Learning Sanskrit is tight and well-played. Lines' hands simultaneously coax lovely clusters of notes from the piano in "Not So Much," reminding me of Brad Mehldau's skillful two-handed solos. Speaking of Mehldau, his "When It Rains" is rendered energetically here, with Cheek and Baraw brewing up a quiet storm over Lines' graceful melody. Like the Trio's other songs, this interpretation of Mehldau impresses with its attention to detail and dignity.

Phillip Buchan

Rand Lines Trio is playing at the Melting Point on Thursday, Dec. 13.