diff --git a/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/builder/ServerBuilder.scala b/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/builder/ServerBuilder.scala
index e4a89763de..68ba3bd6ec 100644
--- a/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/builder/ServerBuilder.scala
+++ b/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/builder/ServerBuilder.scala
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import com.twitter.util.Duration
 import com.twitter.conversions.time._
 
 import com.twitter.finagle._
+import com.twitter.finagle.tracing.{TraceReceiver, TracingFilter}
 import com.twitter.finagle.util.Conversions._
 import com.twitter.finagle.util._
 import com.twitter.finagle.util.Timer._
@@ -64,7 +65,8 @@ case class ServerBuilder[Req, Rep](
   _channelFactory: Option[ReferenceCountedChannelFactory],
   _maxConcurrentRequests: Option[Int],
   _hostConnectionMaxIdleTime: Option[Duration],
-  _requestTimeout: Option[Duration])
+  _requestTimeout: Option[Duration],
+  _traceReceiver: Option[TraceReceiver])
 {
   import ServerBuilder._
 
@@ -81,7 +83,8 @@ case class ServerBuilder[Req, Rep](
     None,              // channelFactory
     None,              // maxConcurrentRequests
     None,              // hostConnectionMaxIdleTime
-    None               // requestTimeout
+    None,              // requestTimeout
+    None               // traceReceiver
   )
 
   def codec[Req1, Rep1](codec: Codec[Req1, Rep1]) =
@@ -118,6 +121,9 @@ case class ServerBuilder[Req, Rep](
   def requestTimeout(howlong: Duration) =
     copy(_requestTimeout = Some(howlong))
 
+  def traceReceiver(receiver: TraceReceiver) =
+    copy(_traceReceiver = Some(receiver))
+
   private[this] def scopedStatsReceiver =
     _statsReceiver map { sr => _name map (sr.scope(_)) getOrElse sr }
 
@@ -213,6 +219,13 @@ case class ServerBuilder[Req, Rep](
           service = (new TimeoutFilter(duration)) andThen service
         }
 
+        // This has to go last (ie. first in the stack) so that
+        // protocol-specific trace support can override our generic
+        // one here.
+        _traceReceiver foreach { traceReceiver =>
+          service = (new TracingFilter(traceReceiver)) andThen service
+        }
+
         // Register the channel so we can wait for them for a
         // drain. We close the socket but wait for all handlers to
         // complete (to drain them individually.)  Note: this would be
diff --git a/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/Trace.scala b/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/Trace.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f5976ace27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/Trace.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+package com.twitter.finagle.tracing
+
+/** 
+ * Support for tracing in finagle. The main abstraction herein is the
+ * "Trace", which is a local that contains various metadata required
+ * for distributed tracing as well as references to the local traced
+ * events. We mimic Dapper in many ways, including borrowing its
+ * nomenclature.
+ *
+ * “Dapper, a Large-Scale Distributed Systems Tracing Infrastructure”,
+ * Benjamin H. Sigelman, Luiz André Barroso, Mike Burrows, Pat
+ * Stephenson, Manoj Plakal, Donald Beaver, Saul Jaspan, Chandan
+ * Shanbhag, 2010.
+ *
+ *   http://research.google.com/pubs/archive/36356.pdf
+ */ 
+
+import scala.util.Random
+
+import com.twitter.util.{Local, Time, TimeFormat, RichU64Long}
+
+case class TraceID(
+  var span: Long,
+  var parentSpan: Option[Long],
+  val host: Int,
+  val vm: String)
+{
+  override def toString = {
+    val spanHex = new RichU64Long(span).toU64HexString
+    val parentSpanHex = parentSpan map (new RichU64Long(_).toU64HexString)
+
+    val spanString = parentSpanHex match {
+      case Some(parentSpanHex) => "%s<:%s".format(spanHex, parentSpanHex)
+      case None => spanHex
+    }
+
+    "%s,%s".format(spanString, vm)
+  }
+}
+
+object Span {
+  private[Span] val timeFormat =
+    new TimeFormat("yyyyMMdd.HHmmss")
+}
+
+case class Span(
+  var traceID: TraceID,
+  var startTime: Time,
+  var endTime: Time,
+  var transcript: Transcript)
+{
+  override def toString = {
+    "%s: %s+%d".format(
+      traceID,
+      Span.timeFormat.format(startTime),
+      (endTime - startTime).inMilliseconds)
+  }
+}
+
+object Trace {
+  private[this] val rng     = new Random
+  private[this] val current = new Local[Span]
+
+  private[this] def newSpan() = {
+    val traceID = TraceID(rng.nextLong(), None, Host(), VMID())
+    Span(traceID, Time.now, Time.epoch, NullTranscript)
+  }
+
+  def update(ctx: Span) {
+    current() = ctx
+  }
+
+  def apply(): Span = {
+    if (!current().isDefined)
+      current() = newSpan()
+
+    current().get
+  }
+
+  def clear() {
+    current.clear()
+  }
+  
+  def startSpan() {
+    this() = newSpan()
+  }
+
+  def startSpan(parentSpanID: Long) {
+    startSpan()
+    this().traceID.parentSpan = Some(parentSpanID)
+  }
+
+  def endSpan(): Span = {
+    Trace().endTime = Time.now
+    val span = Trace()
+    clear()
+    span
+  }
+
+  def debug(isOn: Boolean) {
+    if (isOn && !Trace().transcript.isRecording)
+      Trace().transcript = new BufferingTranscript(Trace().traceID)
+    else if (!isOn && Trace().transcript.isRecording)
+      Trace().transcript = NullTranscript
+  }
+
+  def spanID = Trace().traceID.span
+
+  def record(message: => String) {
+    Trace().transcript.record(message)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/TraceContext.scala b/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/TraceContext.scala
deleted file mode 100644
index d81db3dafe..0000000000
--- a/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/TraceContext.scala
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,60 +0,0 @@
-package com.twitter.finagle.tracing
-
-/** 
- * Support for tracing in finagle. The main abstraction herein is the
- * "TraceContext", which is a local that contains various metadata
- * required for distributed tracing.
- */ 
-
-import scala.util.Random
-
-import com.twitter.util.{Local, RichU64Long}
-
-case class TraceID(
-  var span: Long,
-  var parentSpan: Option[Long],
-  val host: Int,
-  val vm: String)
-{
-  override def toString = {
-    val spanHex = new RichU64Long(span).toU64HexString
-    val parentSpanHex = parentSpan map (new RichU64Long(_).toU64HexString)
-
-    val spanString = parentSpanHex match {
-      case Some(parentSpanHex) => "%s<:%s".format(spanHex, parentSpanHex)
-      case None => spanHex
-    }
-
-    "%s,%s".format(spanString, vm)
-  }
-}
-
-case class TraceContext(
-  var traceID: TraceID,
-  var transcript: Transcript
-)
-
-object TraceContext {
-  private[this] val rng = new Random
-  private[this] val current = new Local[TraceContext]
-
-  def update(ctx: TraceContext) {
-    current() = ctx
-  }
-
-  def apply(): TraceContext = {
-    if (!current().isDefined)
-      current() = newContext()
-
-    current().get
-  }
-
-  def newContext() = {
-    val traceID = TraceID(rng.nextLong(), None, Host(), VMID())
-    TraceContext(traceID, NullTranscript)
-  }
-
-  def reset() {
-    this() = newContext()
-  }
-}
diff --git a/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/TraceReceiver.scala b/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/TraceReceiver.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c365d834e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/TraceReceiver.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+package com.twitter.finagle.tracing
+
+/**
+ * Trace receivers are called after the completion of every span. These
+ * in turn can be used to implement trace collection ala Dapper.
+ */
+
+trait TraceReceiver {
+  /** 
+   * receiveSpan is called for every span production (at the
+   * completion of a request from the server)
+   */ 
+  def receiveSpan(span: Span): Unit
+}
+
+class ConsoleTraceReceiver extends TraceReceiver {
+  def receiveSpan(span: Span) {
+    println(span)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/TracingFilter.scala b/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/TracingFilter.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b290b01a41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/TracingFilter.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+package com.twitter.finagle.tracing
+
+/**
+ * The TracingFilter takes care of span lifecycle events. It is always
+ * placed first in the server filter chain so that protocols with
+ * trace support will override the span resets, and still be properly
+ * reported here.
+ */
+
+import com.twitter.finagle.{Service, SimpleFilter}
+
+class TracingFilter[Req, Rep](receiver: TraceReceiver)
+  extends SimpleFilter[Req, Rep]
+{
+  def apply(request: Req, service: Service[Req, Rep]) = {
+    Trace.startSpan()
+    service(request) ensure {
+      receiver.receiveSpan(Trace.endSpan())
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/Transcript.scala b/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/Transcript.scala
index 0fbbfc27d0..e4166e1449 100644
--- a/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/Transcript.scala
+++ b/finagle-core/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/tracing/Transcript.scala
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 package com.twitter.finagle.tracing
 
 /** 
- * Transcripts are records of events and are contained in a trace
- * context.
+ * Transcripts are programmer-provided records of events and are
+ * contained in a trace context. They are equivalent to a sequence of
+ * "annotations" in Dapper.
  */ 
 
 import collection.mutable.ArrayBuffer
@@ -31,10 +32,10 @@ trait Transcript extends Iterable[Record] {
  * context.
  */
 object Transcript extends Transcript {
-  def record(message: => String) { TraceContext().transcript.record(message) }
-  def iterator = TraceContext().transcript.iterator
-  override def isRecording = TraceContext().transcript.isRecording
-  def merge(other: Iterator[Record]) = TraceContext().transcript.merge(other)
+  def record(message: => String) { Trace().transcript.record(message) }
+  def iterator = Trace().transcript.iterator
+  override def isRecording = Trace().transcript.isRecording
+  def merge(other: Iterator[Record]) = Trace().transcript.merge(other)
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/finagle-stress/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/demo/Tracing.scala b/finagle-stress/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/demo/Tracing.scala
index 7f5d925483..bba0f350bc 100644
--- a/finagle-stress/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/demo/Tracing.scala
+++ b/finagle-stress/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/demo/Tracing.scala
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import org.apache.thrift.protocol.TBinaryProtocol
 
 import com.twitter.finagle.builder.{ClientBuilder, ServerBuilder}
 import com.twitter.finagle.thrift.{ThriftServerFramedCodec, ThriftClientFramedCodec}
-import com.twitter.finagle.tracing.{TraceContext, BufferingTranscript}
+import com.twitter.finagle.tracing.{Trace, BufferingTranscript}
 
 object Tracing1Service extends Tracing1.ServiceIface {
   private[this] val transport = ClientBuilder()
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ object Tracing1Service extends Tracing1.ServiceIface {
   } 
 
   def computeSomething(): Future[String] = {
-    println("T1 with trace ID", TraceContext().traceID)
-    TraceContext().transcript.record("hey i'm issuing a call")
+    println("T1 with trace ID", Trace().traceID)
+    Trace.record("hey i'm issuing a call")
 
     t2Client.computeSomethingElse() map { somethingElse =>
       "t1: " + somethingElse
@@ -54,15 +54,14 @@ object Tracing2Service extends Tracing2.ServiceIface {
   }
 
   def computeSomethingElse(): Future[String] = {
-    println("T2 with trace ID", TraceContext().traceID)
-    TraceContext().transcript.record("hey i'm issuing a call")
-
+    println("T2 with trace ID", Trace().traceID)
+    Trace.record("hey i'm issuing a call")
 
     for {
       x <- t3Client.oneMoreThingToCompute()
       y <- t3Client.oneMoreThingToCompute()
     } yield {
-      TraceContext().transcript.record(
+      Trace.record(
         "got my results!  (%s and %s), returning".format(x, y))
       "t2: " + x + y
     }
@@ -80,10 +79,10 @@ object Tracing3Service extends Tracing3.ServiceIface {
   }
 
   def oneMoreThingToCompute(): Future[String] = {
-    println("T3 with trace ID", TraceContext().traceID)
+    println("T3 with trace ID", Trace().traceID)
 
     val number = count.incrementAndGet()
-    TraceContext().transcript.record(
+    Trace.record(
       "(t3) hey i'm issuing a call %s".format(number))
     Future("t3: %d".format(number))
   }
@@ -100,13 +99,13 @@ object Client {
       transport, new TBinaryProtocol.Factory())
 
     // Turn (debug) tracing on.
-    TraceContext().transcript = new BufferingTranscript(TraceContext().traceID)
+    Trace().transcript = new BufferingTranscript(Trace().traceID)
 
-    TraceContext().transcript.record("about to start issuing the root request..")
+    Trace.record("about to start issuing the root request..")
     val result = client.computeSomething()()
     println("result", result)
 
     println("Trace:")
-    TraceContext().transcript.print()
+    Trace().transcript.print()
   }
 }
diff --git a/finagle-stress/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/stress/EndToEndStress.scala b/finagle-stress/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/stress/EndToEndStress.scala
index 437ce2ccd8..cc1e0f64d8 100644
--- a/finagle-stress/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/stress/EndToEndStress.scala
+++ b/finagle-stress/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/stress/EndToEndStress.scala
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import com.twitter.finagle.builder.Http
 import com.twitter.finagle.util.Timer
 import com.twitter.finagle.Service
 import com.twitter.finagle.stats.OstrichStatsReceiver
+import com.twitter.finagle.tracing.ConsoleTraceReceiver
 
 object EndToEndStress {
   private[this] object HttpService
diff --git a/finagle-thrift/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/thrift/ThriftClientFramedCodec.scala b/finagle-thrift/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/thrift/ThriftClientFramedCodec.scala
index 1159481e1b..1633a49525 100644
--- a/finagle-thrift/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/thrift/ThriftClientFramedCodec.scala
+++ b/finagle-thrift/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/thrift/ThriftClientFramedCodec.scala
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import com.twitter.finagle._
 import com.twitter.finagle.util.{Ok, Error, Cancelled, TracingHeader}
 import com.twitter.finagle.util.Conversions._
 import com.twitter.finagle.channel.ChannelService
-import com.twitter.finagle.tracing.{TraceID, TraceContext, Record}
+import com.twitter.finagle.tracing.{TraceID, Trace, Record}
 
 /** 
  * ThriftClientFramedCodec implements a framed thrift transport that
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ class ThriftClientFramedCodec extends Codec[ThriftClientRequest, Array[Byte]]
       } else {
         // Otherwise, apply our tracing filter first. This will read
         // the TraceData frames, and apply them to the current
-        // TraceContext.
+        // Trace.
         (new ThriftClientTracingFilter) andThen underlying
       }
     }
@@ -108,9 +108,9 @@ class ThriftClientChannelBufferEncoder
 }
 
 /** 
- * ThriftClientTracingFilter implements TraceContext support for
- * thrift. This is applied *after* the Channel has been upgraded (via
- * negotiation). It serializes the current TraceContext into a header
+ * ThriftClientTracingFilter implements Trace support for thrift. This
+ * is applied *after* the Channel has been upgraded (via
+ * negotiation). It serializes the current Trace into a header
  * on the wire. It is applied after all framing.
  */
 
@@ -120,8 +120,8 @@ class ThriftClientTracingFilter extends SimpleFilter[ThriftClientRequest, Array[
             service: Service[ThriftClientRequest, Array[Byte]]) =
   {
     val header = new TracedRequest
-    header.setParent_span_id(TraceContext().traceID.span)
-    header.setDebug(TraceContext().transcript.isRecording)
+    header.setParent_span_id(Trace().traceID.span)
+    header.setDebug(Trace().transcript.isRecording)
 
     val tracedRequest = request.copy(
       message = OutputBuffer.messageToArray(header) ++ request.message)
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ class ThriftClientTracingFilter extends SimpleFilter[ThriftClientRequest, Array[
               thriftRecord.getMessage())
           }
 
-          TraceContext().transcript.merge(records.iterator)
+          Trace().transcript.merge(records.iterator)
         }
 
         rest
diff --git a/finagle-thrift/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/thrift/ThriftServerFramedCodec.scala b/finagle-thrift/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/thrift/ThriftServerFramedCodec.scala
index 00d27a93a3..42d4f6c84b 100644
--- a/finagle-thrift/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/thrift/ThriftServerFramedCodec.scala
+++ b/finagle-thrift/src/main/scala/com/twitter/finagle/thrift/ThriftServerFramedCodec.scala
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import org.jboss.netty.channel.SimpleChannelUpstreamHandler
 import com.twitter.util.Future
 import com.twitter.finagle._
 import com.twitter.finagle.util.TracingHeader
-import com.twitter.finagle.tracing.{BufferingTranscript, TraceContext}
+import com.twitter.finagle.tracing.{BufferingTranscript, Trace}
 
 class ThriftServerChannelBufferEncoder extends SimpleChannelDownstreamHandler {
   override def writeRequested(ctx: ChannelHandlerContext, e: MessageEvent) = {
@@ -49,18 +49,16 @@ class ThriftServerTracingFilter
       val header = new TracedRequest
       val request_ = InputBuffer.peelMessage(request, header)
 
-      TraceContext.reset()
-      TraceContext().traceID.parentSpan = Some(header.getParent_span_id)
-
-      if (header.debug && !TraceContext().transcript.isRecording)
-        TraceContext().transcript = new BufferingTranscript(TraceContext().traceID)
+      Trace.startSpan(header.getParent_span_id)
+      if (header.debug)
+        Trace.debug(true)  // (don't turn off when !header.debug)
 
       service(request_) map { response =>
         // Wrap some trace data.
         val responseHeader = new TracedResponse
 
         if (header.debug) {
-          TraceContext().transcript foreach { record =>
+          Trace().transcript foreach { record =>
             val thriftRecord = new TranscriptRecord(
               record.traceID.host,
               record.traceID.vm,
@@ -69,11 +67,13 @@ class ThriftServerTracingFilter
               record.timestamp.inMilliseconds,
               record.message
             )
+
             responseHeader.addToTranscript(thriftRecord)
           }
         }
 
-        val responseHeaderBytes = OutputBuffer.messageToArray(responseHeader)
+        val responseHeaderBytes =
+          OutputBuffer.messageToArray(responseHeader)
         responseHeaderBytes ++ response
       }
     } else {
diff --git a/finagle-thrift/src/test/scala/com/twitter/finagle/thrift/EndToEndSpec.scala b/finagle-thrift/src/test/scala/com/twitter/finagle/thrift/EndToEndSpec.scala
index 87a59d6dbb..254878009d 100644
--- a/finagle-thrift/src/test/scala/com/twitter/finagle/thrift/EndToEndSpec.scala
+++ b/finagle-thrift/src/test/scala/com/twitter/finagle/thrift/EndToEndSpec.scala
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import org.jboss.netty.channel.local._
 import org.jboss.netty.channel.socket.nio._
 
 import com.twitter.test.{B, SomeStruct, AnException, F}
-import com.twitter.finagle.tracing.TraceContext
+import com.twitter.finagle.tracing.Trace
 import com.twitter.finagle.builder.{ClientBuilder, ServerBuilder}
 import com.twitter.finagle.util.Conversions._
 import com.twitter.silly.Silly
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ object EndToEndSpec extends Specification {
       def add_one(a: Int, b: Int) = Future.void
       def multiply(a: Int, b: Int) = Future { a * b }
       def complex_return(someString: String) = Future {
-        TraceContext().transcript.record("hey it's me!")
-        new SomeStruct(123, TraceContext().traceID.parentSpan.get.toString)
+        Trace.record("hey it's me!")
+        new SomeStruct(123, Trace().traceID.parentSpan.get.toString)
       }
       def someway() = Future.void
     }
@@ -54,13 +54,13 @@ object EndToEndSpec extends Specification {
       future() must be_==(300)
 
       import com.twitter.finagle.tracing.BufferingTranscript
-      TraceContext().transcript = new BufferingTranscript(TraceContext().traceID)
+      Trace().transcript = new BufferingTranscript(Trace().traceID)
 
       client.complex_return("a string")().arg_two must be_==(
-        "%s".format(TraceContext().traceID.span.toString))
+        "%s".format(Trace().traceID.span.toString))
 
-      TraceContext().transcript must haveSize(1)
-      TraceContext().transcript.head.message must be_==("hey it's me!")
+      Trace().transcript must haveSize(1)
+      Trace().transcript.head.message must be_==("hey it's me!")
 
       client.add(1, 2)() must throwA[AnException]
       client.add_one(1, 2)()  // don't block!