''Rising Grace'' is a studio album by guitarist

Wolfgang Muthspiel Wolfgang Muthspiel (born 2 March 1965) is an Austrian jazz guitarist and record label owner. He is the brother of musician Christian Muthspiel. Music career When he was six, he began playing violin, and at fourteen he moved on to classical gui ...

, recorded in January 2016 and released by ECM in October that year. His quintet contained trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, pianist

Brad Mehldau Bradford Alexander Mehldau (; born August 23, 1970) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Mehldau studied music at The New School, and toured and recorded while still a student. He was a member of saxophonist Joshua Redman's Qua ...

, bassist

Larry Grenadier Larry Grenadier (born February 6, 1966 in San Francisco) is an American jazz double bassist. Early life Grenadier's father, Albert, was a trumpet player, and his two brothers, Phil and Steve, play trumpet and guitar, respectively. Grenadier be ...

, and drummer Brian Blade."Rising Grace"
ECM Records. Retrieved 4 December 2016.

Background

Muthspiel's first album for ECM was ''Driftwood'' in 2014, a trio recording with bassist

and drummer Brian Blade."Rising Grace"
ECM Records. Retrieved 4 December 2016. For ''Rising Grace'', trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and pianist

were added.

Music and recording

Muthspiel wrote all of the tracks, except for "Wolfgang's Waltz", which was composed by Mehldau. The recordings were made over three days in south-eastern France. The music does not follow the typical rhythm section plus soloists division, and "while some songs feature a conventional sequence of soloists, it's also common for Muthspiel, Akinmusire and Mehldau to share the soloing space as they weave melodies together."Hum, Peter (7 November 2016
"Wolfgang Muthspiel CD reviewed"
''Ottawa Citizen''. The album was released by ECM on CD and two LPs on 28 October 2016.

Reception

Critic

John Fordham John Fordham (died 1425) was Bishop of Durham and Bishop of Ely. Fordham was keeper of the privy seal of Prince Richard from 1376 to 1377 and Dean of Wells before being named Lord Privy Seal in June 1377. He held that office until December 1381 ...

suggested that "the music mingles echoes of Kenny Wheeler, the classical guitar sound of Ralph Towner and the songlike one of Pat Metheny, plus the quickwittedness of the mid-60s Miles Davis group".Fordham, John (3 November 2016
"Wolfgang Muthspiel: Rising Grace Review – Oblique Music That Grows On You"
''The Guardian''. The ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The new ...

'' reviewer wrote: "Sonically ravishing and filled with profound, singular music that speaks beautifully of communion, ''Rising Grace'' will reward your full attention, over and over."

Track listing

Personnel

– guitar * Ambrose Akinmusire – trumpet *

– piano *

– double bass * Brian Blade – drums

References

External links

*{{Discogs master, 1103780, Wolfgang Muthspiel – Rising Grace ECM Records albums