While he's far less known in the UK, the 49-year-old guitarist and composer Wolfgang Muthspiel is one of the most recognised jazz figures on the continent to have come out of Austria in the last couple of decades. Having studied at Berklee, Muthspiel first emerged in the 1990s as the guitarist in Gary Burton's Quintet, taking up a position previously occupied by Pat Metheny. He settled in New York, performing with everyone from Paul Motian and Ralph Towner through to Dhafer Youssef, and took up a professorship in Switzerland in 2005. His trio partners on Driftwood, which is his first for ECM, are world-class team players: Brad Mehldau's bassist Larry Grenadier and Wayne Shorter's drummer Brian Blade, both long term associates of Muthspiel's (the excellent Air, Love &Vitamins trio album with Blade and Marc Johnson stands out) and both have recorded for the guitarist's own recording label, Material. Blade is an understated presence here compared to the simmering tension and orchestral-like dynamics he can whip up on a Shorter gig. But Driftwood only slowly reveals its secrets. The subtle details and reflective moods tend to mask the wide-ranging nature of Muthspiel's influences but they are all here. His classical music background and composition work within the genre is evoked especially in the classical guitar-led ‘Uptown’ one of his standout themes, while a tribute ‘Joseph’ to a stellar jazz compatriot emphasises the trio's airily conversational approach. There are a few moments when the trio gathers some raw momentum; Muthspiel picks up the electric guitar for the latter stages of ‘Highline’ and for an electric rock-tinged tribute titled ‘Bossa for Michael Brecker’. But otherwise it's as soft-focus and elegant an ECM recording as you can get.