I’ve been a fan of Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel since at least 2016, when I absolutely loved his quintet recording Rising Grace. I’ve also been on board with this particular trio of Muthspiel’s, with Americans Scott Colley on bass and Brian Blade on drums, for their previous two outings Angular Blues (2020) and Dance of the Elders (2023). Maybe it’s just recency bias, but I think I like their latest Tokyo best of the three.
As was the case with the trio’s previous two recordings, their music weaves through the warp and woof of jazz, classical and folk music without recognizing any seams or boundaries. The thing that keeps me coming back to this disc in the end is the way it’s always moving forward, even when it’s reveling in the moment. Once again Muthspiel explores the varied sonorities of acoustic and electric guitars, even both on at least one of these compositions, via looping or multi-tracking.
This trio has been recording on ECM for five years now and touring together at least as long, throughout Europe, the U.S., and Japan. These are players who are individually at the peak of their powers and as an ensemble they’re a marvel of intuitive interplay. I just tried to go back and select a track that best illustrates that, and … well, they all do in their way. The one that leaps out at me though, almost against my will, is the one I alluded to above: “Flight” opens with a deeply folk oriented theme by Muthspiel on acoustic classical guitar, and you only know it’s not something by Villalobos by the presence of Colley’s obviously jazzy acoustic bass line. And then Wolfgang enters with his electric guitar tuned to Larry Coryell, and Blade on brushed snare, and it’s fusion of a high order.
So that one goes on my 2025 playlist, but what else? Well, speaking of jazz rock fusion there’s “Roll,” a rollicking number that finds Colley and Muthspiel swapping leads including a heavy solo by Muthspiel on acoustic! You have to see this one to believe it.
There are so many moods on Tokyo. Organ effects pedals make “Christa’s Dream” languid and almost psychedelic. “Diminished Augmented” sets a classical etude into modernist territory. The chamber jazz of “Weill You Wait” is a playful excursion into Weimar era cabaret esthetics. “Strumming” finds him dipping his toe into surf rock as he strums licks on the lower strings of his electric and Colley plays the melody in arco mode over Blade’s martial-rock tattoo.
Eight of the 10 tracks are Muthspiel originals, bookended by Keith Jarret’s jaunty “Lisbon Stomp,” the most straightforward jazz composition and rendition on the album; and the closer “Abacus” by the later drummer and composer Paul Motian, which like many of Motian’s works swings between straight jazz and experimental at the drop of a hat.
Tokyo is going to keep me busy exploring its various moods and virtuosic performances for a long time to come. And it’s also a reminder to delve back into this trio’s earlier works. So, win-win!
(ECM, 2025)
