Euphonia, a café-style acoustic combo featuring accordion, mandolin and guitar, unites singer-guitarist Sylvia Herold (Wake the Dead, Cats & Jammers, Hot Club of San Francisco) with three remarkable musicians. Steeped in the dance-music traditions of Europe and America, Paul Kotapish (Wake the Dead, Kevin Burke’s Open House) on mandolin and Charlie Hancock (Swing Farm, Crepes Musette) on accordion and piano propel the songs with a restrained intensity that never overpowers the stories. Latin percussionist Brian Rice (Choro Famoso, Wake the Dead) lends rhythmic texture to much of the material. Herold adds her assertive guitar work, and another Wake the Dead stalwart, Danny Carnahan, adds harmony vocals on several cuts.