WORTH A LISTEN
Rating: 
In the past, I’ve felt that Wolfgang Muthspiel was lacking in passion as a guitarist. He certainly has prodigious amounts of technique. On Marc Johnson’s release Magic Labyrinth, Muthspiel surprised me on the tune A Paco, which he wrote. Who knew that Wolfgang Muthspiel had such an appreciation for Paco De Lucia, the legendary Flamenco guitarist? I’ve heard many tributes to Paco over the years, but this is the best one — it singlehandedly lifts Magic Labyrinth into the Worth A Listen column.
Not that Magic Labyrinth is terrible. It isn’t. But it suffers from the dullness that tends to pervade efforts by bassist Marc Johnson.
Magic Labyrinth starts out on a pleasant enough note with Samurai Hee-Haw. The melody is somewhat generic. What saves the track is Marc Johnson’s rhythmic double and triple stops on the bass. It’s pretty cool.
J.P. is somewhat dull. The groups vamps on a single chord while Muthspiel feverishly plays altered scales around the key center. Percussionist Arto Tuncboyaciyan doesn’t add much of interest.
Marc Johnson uses Miles Davis’ Solar as an excuse for an extended solo, backed by Arto Tuncboyaciyan’s percussion. Johnson isn’t a tasteful enough bassist to give shape to the tune. It ends up coming off as self-indulgent.
Forest Bower is intended to show off Marc Johnson’s ability to carry a melody on bass. He double tracks arpeggiated chords in the background. Sadly, it’s pretty forgettable.
I would go on, but I’m starting to get bored.
Really, Magic Labyrinth is perfectly pleasant music, but it just isn’t inspired, except for Wolfgang Muthspiel’s excellent A Paco. This is one of those cases where you’re better off downloading the standout tune and leaving the rest.