Wolfgang Muthspiel with Scott Colley and Brian Blade: TOKYO- Playing to the purpose of the music.

Wolfgang Musthpiel Scott Colley  Brian Blade-TOKYO- ECM 

The Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel has just released a new trio album this September titled Tokyo on ECM records and it was well worth the wait. This is a continuation of sorts, the third release from this dynamic trio, which includes the bassist Scott Colley and the drummer Brian Blade. The previous, releases Angular Blues from 2020, and Dance of the Elders from 2023, both on ECM, feature this same trio, with Muthspiel as the leader and composer. Both were wonderfully received albums. Muthspiel is an accomplished guitarist that is equally comfortable on both acoustic and electric guitar formats. His compositional work uses elements of folk and classical music as inspiration and his judicious use of electronics brings in yet  another subtle color to his creative palette. 

For those who are unaware of Musthpiel's guitar work, the Vienna based artist studied with and befriended guitar guru Mick Goodrick at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and while at Berklee the guitarist toured with vibraphonist Gary Burton and his Quintet in the early nineties. Muthspiel worked with the late drummer Paul Motian in his The Electric BeBop Band and was a member of Motian's album Reincarnation of a Love Bird  from 1994.  He was also a member of the second generation of bassist Marc Johnson's Right Brain Patrol on the album Magic Labryinth from 1995. 

Curiosity and drive found Muthspiel playing with pop star Rebekka Bakken and led him into an electronic duo with his brother trombonist Christian along the way. In 2009, Muthspiel helped form the trio of Muthpiel, guitar-master Ralph Towner, and the Khazahstan/Austrian classical guitarist Slava Grigoryan, recording the album Form a Dream. The second acclaimed album of these three guitar virtuosos was released as Travel Guide  in 2013. Further associations brought Muthspiel's guitar together with other jazz players like Brad Mehldau, Ambrose Akinmusire, Larry Grenadier and Peter Erskine to name just a few.

Muthpiel is also an active educator who has since 2004, led the guitar program of the Basel University of Music FHNW.

Scott Colley, Brian Blade , Wolfgang Muthspiel (photo credit unknown)

This recent release came about when the trio was on tour performing at the Cotton Club in Tokyo in 2024, which lent the title's name. When talking about pairing recording in a studio while you are actively performing on a tour, Muthspiel has previously stated "The idea was (is) to capture the live flow from the concert, playing music in the moment, with as little editing as possible. That's what jazz is all about." His intent to produce a recording that is as vibrant and spontaneous as a live performance, is obviously a top consideration for this artist. On Tokyo, there is little doubt that he and his bandmates have certainly been successful in recreating the vibe, excitement and spontaneity of a live performance on this excellent studio album.

The album's ten tracks, eight of which are Muthspiel compositions, are bookended purposefully. It opens with Keith Jarrett's "Lisbon Stomp," originally on Jarett's 1968 album Between the Exit Signs. This energetic piece openss with Muthspiel's fluid electric guitar laying out the head before the group opens up into a free improvisational tour of the possibilities. His guitar lines appear like fresh water from a spring, joyful and inquisitive. Colley's bass is plucky in the mid-range, providing intuitive counterpoint and an inspired pizzicato solo. Blade provides an almost rhythm-less accompaniment, wisps of cumulus clouds that float over the proceeding. These guys always play to the purpose of the song. There is musical symbiosis, always bringing fresh interplay to the music without seeking to bring attention to the individual. 

The beautiful ballad "Pradela" was written by Muthspiel while hiking on the Camino de Santiago, in Spain. The guitar sings on this rubato-played piece,  Colley's bass warmly resonates in synch, as Blades subtle accompaniment is almost feather-like in his approach. There is a folk-inspiration to this composition. It feels like Muthspiel's time playing with guitarist Ralph Towner has certainly made its impression on the Austrian and this one is just gorgeous.

"Flight" is another Muthspiel composition, and one of my favorites. The guitarist  said that he had Colley's bass in mind when he wrote this one. The guitarist's classical-style finger-picking on his acoustic guitar is delicate but vibrant. He creates a repeating rhythmic pattern that he likens to the sound of a ride cymbal. Its a whoosh of rhythm and it hauntingly works so well. Colley's bass takes the lead, laying down the line, beautifully played like singing, commanding the mid-range. Muthspiel overdubs his electric guitar and enters the mix ringing through in a higher range like a clarion voice in the wind. The melodicism is stunningly creative as the two match each other lines with precision, tonally distinct yet in simpatico. Blades gently drum work propels the music in the background. Muthspiel orchestrates this music so well. He creates a tableaux skillfully meshing the highs, the lows and every tone in between. The music creates drama, as Colley's bass strings hum with beauty, and the trio brings the music to a powerful conclusion at the coda.

"Roll" opens with Blades pointedly cadenced trap work, before Muthspiel's acoustic guitar-picking and aggressive rhythmic strumming offers a rock-inspired  drive that forcefully flows. The guitarist once observed that Pat Metheny is particularly good at using dramatic strumming effectively. This one, and the other song "Strumming," demonstrates how an inspired Muthspiel can use strumming to create drama and drive. Colley's ostinato bass adds his own urgency to this one. The music is infectious, a musical romp that gets you rolling!

"Christa's Dream," finds Muthspiel's electric guitar accentuated with some tasty  use of chorus and tremelo, creating  a dreamlike aura. Blade's drum and cymbal work embellishes on the atmospheric feel. Colley's bass provides his own buoyant touches to make this one a musical walk in the ether.

"Diminished Augmented" has a modernistic feel with its angular lines complimented by some fleet finger-picking guitar work that just follows it's own muse. Patterns shift, meters change, as Colley's bass work mimics Muthspiels' lines even though its hard to predict where they are going. Blade somehow seems to find his own way, adding precise rhythmic pushes and pulls magically. If you ever doubted these guys possess telepathic powers, this one should put all doubts to rest.

"Traversia" is the second of the compositions Muthspiel penned on that Spanish hike. His work on the acoustic guitar is precise, warm and melodic. Colley's arco bass swells with cello-like beauty, as Muthspiel's classical-like finger-picking shines brightly.

"Strumming" finds Muthspiels' guitar rhythmically strumming energetically creating a whirl of movement, an eddy current of action. Colley's bass bows a moaning counter offer that touches your heart, and Blade's drum anchors the motion. The music wraps you in its intensity with excitement and pathos. Muthspiel's electric guitar lines can excite you or caress you. His probing fluidity and relentless strumming can be mesmerizing.

"Weill You Wait" is a beautiful chamber jazz-like homage to the writing of the composer Kurt Weill, who had a prolific career. His most famous work was "Three Penny Opera" and it's famous song "Mack the Knife" became a pop and jazz standard. Muthspiel was an admirer of Weill's musical compositions and he has said this piece was inspired by Weill's music and by the singing of Lottev Lenya, Weill's wife. 

The closing bookend of this set of music, features a song, "Abacus," a piece composed by the drummer Paul Motian. Muthspiel was inspired by the drummer's unique approach to rhythm.  He has called Motian "...THEE master of rubato." The music is built on the theory that music doesn't always require a set rhythmic base. The music opens with the guitarist and the bassist in a free improvisational conversation. Muthspiel explores lines that inspire his bandmates to free associate in ways that are not predictable, but somehow these guys are in synch. Mid way through, the music fades before Colley's bass takes the lead. The music ends with a gently played finger-picked statement that is responded in like by the bass and the drums to the coda.

Review of Dave Frank at The Iridium Jazz Club July 11, 2010

Master Class on the work of Dave McKenna by Master pianist Dave Frank

Live at the Iridium Jazz Club, New York City Sunday July 11, 2010

Since 2004 the pianist Dave Frank started The Dave Frank School of Jazz in midtown Manhattan where he has taught the art of jazz piano and the Joy of Improvisation. Starting in February of this year Dave started a unique series of master classes on streaming video where anyone can watch as he delves into the music of some eclectic but brilliant musicians and dissects what they play, why they play it and how it is done. To date he has done master classes on Charlie Parker, Frank Zappa, Bruce Hornsby, Eric Dolphy and Keith Jarrett.

On Sunday, at the midtown jazz club The Iridium, Mr. Frank deconstructed the work of one of his major influences, the pianist Dave McKenna. Mr. McKenna’s work is known for it’s unerring sense of swing and his skillful use of the walking bass line. Mr. Frank has dedicated himself to extending the art of the walking bass line, bringing it to a whole new level of sophistication on his own solo piano work. In front of a nearly full house of friends, students and admirers Mr. Frank started by playing a recording of Mr. McKenna performing the song “Exactly Like You” from the “Live at Mayback Recital Hall” album. The ebullient Mr. Frank showed his passion and enthusiasm for this music as he described the multiple techniques that Mr. McKenna employed. He then took a second recording “ Dream Dancing” and demonstrated section-by-section the myriad of styles that Mr. McKenna used to make the tune his own.  The professorial Mr. Frank explained terms like left hand 4 to bar chording, windshield wipers, smudging, obvious and implied rhythm, inner chording, tenths and echoing techniques, taking some of the mystery out of what McKenna was doing and demonstrating it on his piano for the audience to follow.

When the class work was finished the audience was treated to some of Mr. Frank’s own superlative playing. After demonstrating some “burn” with an impossibly complex walking bass line, he played the contemplative “Indian Summer “ from his album “Power of the Piano”, showing the more sensitive side to his playing. He introduced a new song “Midtown 9 am” from his upcoming album “Portraits of New York”, an impressionistic aural representation of the hustle bustle sounds of morning in New York City.  He played another moving ballad “Prayer at St. Patricks’s” which is from his “Turning it Loose” cd from 2008. He ended the set with his “Broadway Boogie Woogie” another smoker that included many of the techniques he described in the McKenna master class, showing that he practices what he preaches.

For those who admire solo piano jazz, Dave Frank is certainly an artist of immense skill and deep passion. His artistry is a combination of blazing speed, sly humor and unerring consistency, especially in his walking bass lines. His technical virtuosity is unquestionable, but it may well be the ever-developing sensitivity that he shows on his ballad work that will eventually put him on another level.