Wolfgang Muthspiel Quintet

Muthspiel grew up surrounded by music. His father was a choir conductor, the rest of the family sang in his choir and every family member was trained to play several instruments. At the age of 21, Muthspiel left for the USA to study at the renowned Berklee College of Music and shortly thereafter became successor to the great Pat Metheny in Gary Burton’s band. This paved the way for a stellar career: Muthspiel played with almost everyone of high standing in the New York jazz scene. However, he decided to return to Europe to work on his own projects. The impressive result demonstrates the wide stylistic scope of the 50-year old artist: spanning from academic exercises and experiments with electronic club music to singer/songwriter collaborations.

In his quintet, Muthspiel surrounds himself with musicians who are stylistically pioneering in their field. He plays alongside the young Californian trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, who is one of the most sought-after new artists in the USA and drummer Brian Blade, famous for his refined technique. This supergroup is completed by bassist Scott Colley and Gwilym Simcock, one of England’s greatest jazz pianists, who played at the Laeiszhalle in the »Jazz Piano« concert series in March 2015.