As I mentioned when writing about the first volume of this collection, Tobin Mueller is a musician (not to mention composer, arranger, interpreter, and singer) who covers a lot of musical ground. Across many releases, he has seamlessly moved between jazz landscapes and journeys through classical realms. He has reimagined musical standards and woven new future classics. He is equally at home with ambient chill as he is with the ornate arrangement. Blues, soundtracks, folk standards and even pop-aware pieces are all within his grasp.
But it is more than just the breadth of the musical style that is impressive about his work; it is also the fact that he can take a stream-of-consciousness and improvisational approach to his work and still arrive at a composition that is finely wrought, robustly structured and cohesive in its theme and style. And that blend of free-handedness and focus is the hallmark of not only this second chapter of music but of the man himself.
One of the aspects, and there are many, that I enjoy about Tobin’s work is his source of inspiration, especially when thoughts and ideas derived from literature and history drive his music. Where these two subjects intersect, such as in the realms of mythology, provide a wellspring of source ideas for this second volume of music in the series, a collection of remastered favourites and new compositions.
“Prelude to Emancipation,” for example, the opening piece here, is a free-flowing cascade of ornate musicality based on the mythos of Morpheus and a tune that is exploratory rather than untethered, as the earlier term, “stream-of-consciousness” might imply. (Interestingly, I’m currently rereading Kerouac’s On The Road, another work that walks the fine line between automatic creativity and purposeful direction.)
I am also drawn to the gentle and ebbing sounds of “Learn Something,” a tune inspired by T.H. White’s Merlin from The Once and Future King series, a more meditative and gently evolving piece. “Morning Whispers” seems to embody the calmness and near-silence that comes with the pre-dawn and the gentle hum of the world awakening. I know that Tobin might have had something entirely different in mind when writing this, but the great thing about instrumental music is that it is built of mood and emotion rather than guided by word and description, and as such, we, the listener, are free to interpret it in any way that appeals to us.
“Sea Storm” is complex and changeable, reflecting the squalling rains and surging seas of the title as he turns his keyboard into an array of confusion and energy, channelling the likes of Shostakovich, Ravel and perhaps even Keith Emerson along the way.
Of the wholly new pieces, we find A Prayer for Those Who Come After, a companion piece to A Prayer for Keith Jarrett that graced Volume 1 and again a deft blend of complimentary and contradictory sounds, perhaps reflecting the complex thoughts surrounding thoughts of mortality and loss.
Again, this second volume of At The Piano shows Tobin Mueller in his true light, as someone who can instantly channel ideas as equally as he can plan them. Here, he blends forethought with freedom and gives us music made at the moment that inspiration strikes but always kept in check by his astute sonic sense of direction.
https://open.spotify.com/album/4DQvOIfPRIVJjoHSAJZ3xt?si=GH_SNuH6Qe26Lpng4FBl8g
