In his latest project Confluence, Austrian guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel invites two outstanding musical personalities to collaborate: Linda May Han Oh, a bassist from Australia, and Lionel Loueke from Benin, Africa. Three different musical colors, three continents, and three influential players on their instruments come together in a concert program that impresses with both virtuosity and rhythmic power, while also opening up a broad space for the protagonists to engage in improvised dialogue.

These three musicians are known from jazz contexts; for instance, Linda May Han Oh has played bass in Pat Metheny’s quartet for a long time and has earned an excellent reputation as a leader in her own projects. Lionel Loueke, on the other hand, is a crucial member of Herbie Hancock’s band and has added a new and distinctive expression to the guitar in his own trio and solo projects.

Wolfgang Muthspiel, whose last four releases were on the ECM label, explores another facet of his work in this new project. What connects these three musicians, as different as they may be, is, among other things, the quality of tonal expression: the touch. When musicians are recognizable by a single note, solely based on its sound, they have found their own voice.