Artist Features
Guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel Releases New Trio Album, Tokyo
Tokyo is Muthspiel’s newest album on the ECM record label.
Wolfgang Muthspiel was born in Judenburg, Austria on March 2, 1965. As a leader, he has over twenty-five albums to his name. Pianist Brad Mehldau, vibraphonist Gary Burton, guitarist Ralph Towner, drummer Brian Blade, and bassist Larry Grenadier are just a few of the musicians Wolfgang has worked with.
JB: The album opens with the upbeat “Lisbon Stomp.” How were you impacted by Keith Jarrett’s 1968 version from his Between the Exit Signs album?
WM: I heard this song first from the Argentinian Composer Guillermo Klein, who brought it to Focusyear, the program I run in Basel, Switzerland. Then, of course, I listened to the album by Keith. So, unlike many other albums by Keith Jarrett, I did not know this one. I am a huge fan of his compositions. I would say he is one of the main jazz composers, and this one has such a joyful, bouncy energy, which is a great jumping-off point to go into a free improvisation. Everything after the head is improvised, both in his and in our version.
JB: Tell us about composing the reflective “Pradela.”
WM: I wrote both “Pradela” and “Traversia” during a hiking trip on the “Camino de Santiago” in Spain. On such a trip, it is essential to have a very light backpack. Since I want to practice a minimum amount every day, I brought my daughter’s children’s guitar with me. “Pradela” came more or less in one go. It is one of those songs that work in many different tempos. Our version starts with rubato, which was a spontaneous decision in the studio. It’s a first take.
JB: Did you compose “Flight” with Scott’s bass in mind?
WM: Yes, indeed. I imagined his sound in that middle range, where the bass can really sing. After having found the series of chords of the “A” section, I spent a long time coming up with that melody.
JB: “Roll” begins with an intro by Brian, and then you add the acoustic guitar. Was this conceived for the acoustic guitar?
WM: Yes, it involves a kind of picking which is almost impossible to play on an electric with a pick.
JB: I assume this was recorded while you were on tour. Tell us a little bit about recording in Tokyo, Japan.
WM: After six ninety-minute sets at Cotton Club in Tokyo, we wanted to continue the flow and went to Studio Dede in Tokyo, a wonderful, small Studio with great vintage gear and a fantastic engineer: Akihito Yoshikawa. We love the Japanese culture of focus and attention to detail. We love Japanese audiences.
JB: Tell us about the effects you used on “Christa’s Dream.”
WM: On the main guitar, I use chorus and tremolo. On that overdubbed solo at the end, I programmed a sound with two octaves, one up, one down, plus tremolo and chorus, and played on the bridge pickup with the highs turned off.
JB: Talk about your musical goals in composing “Diminished and Augmented.”
WM: I write constantly, and cells keep emerging, which might become songs later. This one was clearly heading towards a cubist, reconstructed kind of music involving many changes of meter and modern harmony not derived from bebop.
My only musical goal is to come up with music I want to play and that my musicians want to play as well.
JB: I love the up-tempo comping you do in “Strumming.” Tell me about composing this song?
WM: I always want to feature the bass also when he plays with the bow: arco. So, I was looking for a kind of comping scenario on the electric (could also be a steel-string acoustic) where my playing resembles the drive of a ride cymbal. The art of strumming with a pick is an interesting field. Pat Metheny is great at it. On the recording, you also hear the mic picking up the acoustic signal of the electric, so you get these transparent high frequencies.
JB: Bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade have been your rhythm section for a number of years. What do you appreciate most about what they brought to this recording?
WM: Their sound, their energy of always serving the song.
JB: Other than using his name, tell about the connection composer Kurt Weill has with “Weill You Wait.”
WM: The song is influenced by his writing. And the interpretation of the song is influenced by his wife Lottev Lenya singing his pieces. A kind of anti-sentimental ballad.
JB: Of all of Paul Motian’s tunes, what drew you to and why close the album with “Abacus”?
WM: I just remember that one from playing it with Paul. But his whole canon of songs are similar and original, always opening the door to free improvisation in a rubato world. Paul was THEE master of rubato: Playing without one concrete unifying beat . That is a huge world often misunderstood as a lack of rhythmic information.
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