Wolfgang Muthspiel - Driftwood (2014) [HDtracks]

Since studying at Berklee College of Music and returning to his home in Austria—though not before releasing a number of American-based recordings either on his own or as a member of bands led by people like Gary Burton, Marc Johnson and Patricia Barber—guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel has largely been focusing on his career through Material Records, the label he founded at the turn of the millennium. And while he's released no shortage of fine recordings for the label—including both studio and live duo recordings with the increasingly ubiquitous drummer Brian Blade (2007's Friendly Travelers and 2008's Friendly Travelers Live), the sublime Live at the Jazz Standard (2010), in duo with the vastly influential but perennially under-recorded guitarist Mick Goodrick, and, perhaps most importantly, the debut of MGT, a dream trio with Oregon's Ralph Towner and Australian classical guitarist Slava Grigoryan, with From a Dream (2010)—he's remained largely on the periphery.
Why was From a Dream important? Because it led to 2013's Travel Guide, a recording with Towner's name on the marquee but an MGT set in every other way, and a move from Muthspiel's less readily available Material Records to Germany's ECM Records, with its broader international reach. A label which has, in its 45-year existence, engendered strong brand loyalty amongst its fans—who often try recordings out, sight unseen, on the strength of its reputation alone—for Muthspiel, Travel Guide has turned into an even more significant opportunity: leading, both logically and inevitably, to Driftwood, the guitarist's debut as a leader for ECM Records, and as sublime, delicately woven and intricately executed an album as he's done in his nearly 25-year career.
A trio date that also features bassist Larry Grenadier—no stranger to the label, both as a sideman and as co-leader of the FLY trio last heard on Year of the Snake (2012)— Driftwood is of even further importance as it represents the ECM debut of Brian Blade, a drummer who has appeared on so many recordings that it's something of a surprise that it's taken him this long to find his way to the Munich-based label.
As much as Driftwood speaks with the voice of three musicians whose distinctive and collective personalities imbue these eight tracks—seven by Muthspiel plus the collectively credited, spontaneously composed title track—there's a certain sense of what came before as well. When Muthspiel performs on nylon-string guitar, there are echoes of early Towner recordings like Batik (ECM, 1978), while his electric work, despite a little tarter tone, possesses an overall ambience redolent of now fellow label-mate John Abercrombie's best recordings for the label, in particular his second trio recording with Gateway, Gateway 2, released the same year as Batik.