You’re driving an old car down a mountain highway at night, through a rainstorm, while pines and eucalyptus strain to hold to the ground that holds them. You peel around corners, tapping a broken beat on the steering wheel; a ghost rides beside you. In the distance, a small yellow light glows brightly through the darkness and the water.

Deborah, David, and Dan grew up in different parts of the United States at the end of the 20th Century. The study of music – from classical to jazz to...