In 2020, guitarist {|Wolfgang Muthspiel|}, drummer {|Brian Blade|}, and bassist {|Scott Colley|} issued {|Angular Blues|}. While all three had worked together previously in various contexts -- {|Blade|} is a longtime member of the guitarist's trio --... Read more

In 2020, guitarist {|Wolfgang Muthspiel|}, drummer {|Brian Blade|}, and bassist {|Scott Colley|} issued {|Angular Blues|}. While all three had worked together previously in various contexts -- {|Blade|} is a longtime member of the guitarist's trio -- this marked the first time they'd recorded as a trio. Whether playing standards or originals, improvising plugged or unplugged, they showcased an easy, natural rapport with locked-in ensemble play. Following extensive tours in 2022 across the U.S, Europe, and Japan, they entered France's Studios La Buissonne in March 2023 with producer {|Manfred Eicher|} and engineer {|Gerard de Haro|}. (It should be noted that for {|ECM|}, a six-month turnaround time between recording, mixing, and release is rare.) {|Dance of the Elders|} showcases the guitarist's sui generis, folk- and classically influenced compositional approach to jazz amid seemingly instinctive exchanges with his bandmates. The nearly 11-minute Invocation opens the set in two distinct sections: the first is contemplative, consisting of sparse electric guitar and bass solos bridged by ensemble engagement with the melody. The second evolves from that into a rich lyric sequence, unfolding gradually and systemically. Prelude to Bach is a reinvention of, and tribute to, the classical composer's O Sacred Head, Now Wounded. Amid {|Muthspiel|}'s restrained, textured chordal improvisation, {|Colley|} plays arco, diving, droning, and hovering in the dialogue before shifting to pizzicato as the guitarist reasserts the lyric and introduces {|Blade|}. The title track's form and improvisation offer deft shifts in time and rhythmic signatures before a clapping loop underscores {|Blade|}'s inventive solo. The gradually unfolding cover of {|Bertolt Brecht|}'s and {|Kurt Weill|}'s Liebeslied is an airy jazz waltz. {|Muthspiel|}'s electric instrument melds blues and lithe, post-bop notions in his solo. Folksong is a musical maze. Using his nylon-string acoustic, {|Muthspiel|} claims it was inspired by {|Keith Jarrett|}'s improvising style. {|Colley|}'s contrapuntal dialogic invention compels and complements {|Muthspiel|}'s crystalline shapes and single lines above {|Blade|}'s subtle yet canny beat punctuation. Cantus Bradus was inspired by pianist {|Brad Mehldau|}, a former collaborator. Its cyclical use of descending figures melds tonality and gentle dissonance amid a bluesy tension, and shadowy augmented or diminished chords borrowed from nuevo flamenco. The set closes with a gorgeous reading of {|Joni Mitchell|}'s Amelia from {|Hejira|}. ({|Mitchell|} erased the bassline and dubbed in another one by {|Jaco Pastorius|}). {|Colley|}'s approach is revelatory. He frames {|Muthspiel|}'s pursuit of {|Mitchell|}'s grace notes, with sensitivity and a composer's intuition. The guitarist invents, inverts, and references the 1979 live version of the song from {|Shadows and Light|}, performed by an all-star band that included {|Pat Metheny|} and {|Pastorius|}. Three years and long international tours separate this trio's studio albums. That's an eternity in jazz. The maturity and instinctive empathy these players display in listening to and playing with one another on {|Dance of the Elders|} is egoless, inviting, and astonishing, albeit in its own gentle way. ~ Thom Jurek Less