Picture this: You are at a Pat Metheny concert -- because that's the style of contemporary jazz found on "Reach", the newest album from the local trio Picture This.

The comparison between Picture This and the New Age jazz guitar innovator is striking Although the halls of rock criticism [are] all full of doubters, l'm a fan of this airy style of jazz, an alternative from my normal fare of distortion-laden guitar.

The lightness of the Wes Montgomery, hollow-body guitar linked with piano and speedy, samba-inflected rhythms show this band wearing its main influence on the communal sleeve.

The playing however, is remarkable enough to let them off the hook for sounding like a more bare-boned Pat Metheny Group. Jerome Monachino, whose musical pedigree is extensive and distinguished, plays guitar with Metheny-esque flair. His compositional partner, Peter Engisch (think of him as Lyle Mays to Monachino's Metheny), handles keyboards and piano filled with the happy and pleasing melodies. Matthew Deluca does a great job at playing soft and steady, giving the music a cymbal-cushioned base from which it can work its soothing powers.

The record is beautifully produced, and makes the most of the trio's natural, if borrowed, sound. Picture This sounds more like a five-piece, with overdubs filling everything out nicely; but the band retains the basic lofty sound in its rawer form.

From the mellower moments of "Miles Away" to the speedy opener "Tell It Like It Is," Picture This does a nice job plowing and replowing a familiar bit of musical terrain. If an homage was intended, then these players have succeeded.

See Picture This for yourself as they kick off the Battery Park Summer Music Series tonight at the halfshell at Battery Park. Nice views and soothing contemporary jazz might be the perfect combo to cool out the humidity.