Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Wolfgang Muthspiel: Angular Blues

Wolfgang Muthspiel: Angular Blues

By Mike Jurkovic
April 11, 2020
View read count

So much of Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel's music materializes before you like Mr. Spock and company on Star Trek. The music beamed in always airy and on the verge of evaporation. But before it does either manifest or vanish it leads you along a slippery slope, through brave structures where only the guitarist knows where the footings are hidden.

Long time collaborator drummer

Brian Blade

drums
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Brian Blade knows the above characteristics well. So he becomes the center of gravity around which Muthspiel goes with or against the unalterable pull on the provocative Angular Blues, Muthspiel's fourth for ECM, following up the widely heralded quintet release, Where The River Goes (ECM, 2018). Dance-animated bassist Scott Colley returns to record with Muthspiel after nearly thirty years and falls right into all the sonic mobilities, echoing, chasing, embroidering his sound to lift and/or ground his wide-ranging cohorts.

Mercurial on both acoustic and electric guitars, the album first three tracks not only highlight Muthspiel's warm, graceful, wooded tone and intimate command, but, with generous space given for Blade and Colley to stretch their inherent dynamic logic, also serve as vivid suggestions of Driftwood (ECM, 2014), his last trio date with Blade and bassist

Larry Grenadier

bass, acoustic
b.1966

" data-original-title="" title="">Larry Grenadier. The spacious, spacial "Wondering" finds Colley flashing his finest from the very start, while Muthspiel dances up a flurry of attention grabbing melodics leading seamlessly to the sharp corners and rhythmic get-arounds of the hotly interactive title track.

The delicately folkloric "Huttengriffe" is an intriguing introduction to the pensive, electric flexibility of "Camino" and the energized bebop of "Ride" and

Cole Porter

composer / conductor
1891 - 1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Cole Porter's whimsical "Everything I Love." Speaking of excitable, listen to Blade and Colley coax Muthspiel's inner rock guitar god out of hiding on the fiery, jazz-rocking "Kanon in 6/8." It's a real treat, just like the whole.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Wondering; Angular Blues; H��ttengriffe; Camino; Ride; Everything I Love; Kanon in 6/8; Solo Kanon in 5/4; I'll Remember April.

Personnel

Wolfgang Muthspiel

guitar

Scott Colley

bass

Brian Blade

drums

Album information

Title: Angular Blues | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: ECM Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Two Cigarettes In the Dark
< Previous

John Prine: 1946 - 2020
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.