Wolfgang Muthspiel: Angular Blues

Drum master Brian Blade was a member of a trio with Jeff Denson on bass and Romain Pilon on guitar that recorded one of my favorite CDs of 2019. He’s back again in another guitar trio led by veteran guitar slinger Wolfgang Muthspiel, with the unerringly supportive bassist Scott Colley rounding out the group on Angular Blues. The trio’s warm and sympathetic approach to the music is a reflection of the fact that Blade and Muthspiel have collaborated on ten released projects since they first performed together on Rebekka Bakken’s Daily Mirror Reflected back in 2000, including several trio releases and a pair of duo albums, Friendly Travelers (2006) and Friendly Travelers Live (2007). Colley also played on the Bakken CD, and in 2001, he joined Blade and Muthspiel to play on Mike Holober’s Canyon. The trio recorded this set in Tokyo, after a three night run at a jazz club. Not surprisingly, the overall feel is that of the last set of a long night, with everyone loose and relaxed as the music practically plays itself in an extended three-way conversation. Particularly fine are the elegiac Hüttengriffe, one of three pieces to feature Muthspiel on acoustic guitar, the trio’s joyous dissection of Cole Porter’s Everything I Love and their madly swinging treatment of Muthspiel’s Kanon in 6/8. Definitely recommended.
ECM 2655; Wolfgang Muthspiel (ac* & el g) Scott Colley (b) Brian Blade (d); Tokyo, Japan, August 2018; Wondering*/ Angular Blues*/ Hüttengriffe*/ Camino/ Ride/ Everything I Love/ Kanon in 6/8/ Solo Kanon in 5/4/ I’ll Remember April; 53:54. www.ecmrecords.com

Bill Frisell & Thomas Morgan: Epistrophy

The Village Vanguard will never be mistaken for anyone’s back porch, but if you kept your eyes closed when the guitar and bass duo of Bill Frisell & Thomas Morgan took the stage at the venerable New York nightspot in March 2016, you might have felt yourself transported to a backyard space somewhere out of the city. ECM Records recorded the gig, and the acclaimed Small Town came out the following year. Now comes Epistrophy with another helping of intimate duets from the same week. A wide range of songs, including Kern-Hammerstein’s seldom played All in Fun, two Thelonious Monk compositions and the Fifties pop classic Save the Last Dance For Me, by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, gives the pair plenty of opportunities to commune with the music and support one another at length. A friendly and relaxed vibe permeates the performances, as the instrumental focus changes almost imperceptibly between Frisell’s gently floating electric guitar and Morgan’s lyrical bass. The two men were first heard on record together on Paul Motian’s 2010 release The Windmills Of Your Mind, and Morgan appeared on Frisell’s When You Wish Upon A Star in 2015. Obviously, they’ve established considerable rapport in those encounters, as demonstrated time and again throughout the nearly 70 minutes of Epistrophy. Particular high points include Motian’s Mumbo Jumbo, a tricky number first heard on a live 1990 recording, also at the Vanguard, by a trio of Motian, Geri Allen and Charlie Haden, Billy Strayhorn’s ever-beautiful Lush Life, a playful dissection of Monk’s theme song, Epistrophy, and the luminous closer, David Mann and Bob Hilliard’s perennial favorite In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning. Epistrophy is a truly lovely collection showcasing the manifold delights of the Frisell and Morgan pairing. Don’t miss it.
ECM 2626; Bill Frisell (g) Thomas Morgan (b); NYC, March 2016; All in Fun/ Wildwood Flower; Save the Last Dance For Me/ Mumbo Jumbo/ You Only Live Twice/ Lush Life/ Epistrophy/ Pannonica/ Red River Valley/ In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning; 69:12. www.ecmrecords.com