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Wolfgang Muthspiel: Drumfree
by Raul d'Gama Rose
Drumfree contains some of the most stimulating three-way counterpoint written and played in a long time. All of the compositional credit goes to Wolfgang Muthspiel, the composer; but making it all come alive is Muthspiel, the guitarist, and his chosen partners for this date: saxophonist Andy Scherrer and bassist Larry Grenadier. Muthspiel leads from the front with the warmth and splendor of his authoritative voice. The guitarist is deeply rooted in the harmonic ideas of European music, with phrases fully ...
Continue ReadingWolfgang Muthspiel: Drumfree
by Jack Huntley
Wolfgang Muthspiel is a hypnotically adept guitarist who seems to have a penchant for exploring the percussion-less musical setting. His previous album, Live At The Jazz Standard (Material Records, 2010), was a technically impeccable guitar duo with Mick Goodrick, and in some ways, Drumfree is a natural extension of the ideas investigated on that album. But here there is an added emotional intensity somewhat overlooked before. Joined by saxophonist Andy Sherrer and bassist Larry Grenadier, the trio explores a range ...
Continue ReadingWolfgang Muthspiel / Mick Goodrick: Live at the Jazz Standard
by Jack Huntley
The worry, when two distinctive musicians play in a duo setting, is that one will display a heavy-handedness that brings down the combined feel. The urge to fill in the openness is ever-tempting. Luckily, both Wolfgang Muthspiel and Mick Goodrick are not only talented guitarists, but well-schooled in the art of supporting others musically, while maintaining their own creative voices. Live at the Jazz Standard is a textbook case of how to combine talents in creating a unified musical landscape. ...
Continue ReadingWolfgang Muthspiel / Mick Goodrick: Live at the Jazz Standard
by John Barron
Guitarists Wolfgang Muthspiel and Mick Goodrick are two like-minded explorers of fretboard possibilities. Goodrick, the elder, has been a renowned performer and educator for over forty years, working with the likes of Gary Burton, Jack DeJohnette and Steve Swallow. Muthspiel, Goodrick's former student at Berklee College of Music has performed with Peter Erskine, Paul Motian and Norwegian jazz singer Rebekka Bakken, among others. On Live at the Jazz Standard, an intimate duo recording from 2008, both guitarists generate ...
Continue ReadingMick Goodrick and Wolfgang Muthspiel: Musical Synthesis
by Matthew Warnock
When guitarists Wolfgang Muthspiel and Mick Goodrick walked up to the stage on January 30th, 2008, they were not only preparing to record a live album for Muthspiel's Material Records label, they were celebrating a musical and personal relationship that stretches back more than two decades. First meeting at the New England Conservatory, where Muthspiel studied under the Goodrick's tutelage, these two iconic players have continued to work together as duo partners over the years, with 2010's Live at the ...
Continue ReadingWolfgang Muthspiel / Mick Goodrick: Live At The Jazz Standard
by John Kelman
Guitar duos can be a dangerous thing. With 12 strings and four hands, there's the potential for serious train wrecks; but if the two players are really listening, there's also potential for inspired greatness. Ralph Towner and John Abercrombie's two albums for ECM—Sargasso Sea (1976) and Five Years Later (1982)—exemplify how two can, indeed, conjoin for a greater whole. So, too, does Live at The Jazz Standard, culled from 2008 performances at the venerable New York City venue, where student ...
Continue ReadingJean-Paul Brodbeck: Hang on Hippie
by AAJ Italy Staff
Il trentacinquenna pianista svizzero Jean-Paul Brodbeck è reduce da un passato da ragazzo prodigio che lo ha visto debuttare sul palco a soli quindici anni con Lionel Hampton. Da allora tanta acqua è passata sotto ai ponti e Brodbeck giunge al suo terzo album scegliendo la formula del quintetto che vede come componente più noto il chitarrista austriaco Wolfgang Muthspiel nel cui quartetto il pianista suona da tempo. Più che al periodo hippie evocato nel titolo dell'album, questa musica fa ...
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