From the knotty opening lines of “A Horse Is Still a Horse,” it’s obvious that German guitarist Nils Weinhold is a product of the angular, odd-intervallic, slightly dissonant school of post-Metheny/post-Abercrombie guitar playing, an idiom personified by the likes of Kurt Rosenwinkel, Adam Rogers, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Mike Moreno and others. A technical monster with a warm tone and fluid delivery, Weinhold impresses with both his writing and his legato playing on Shapes, his debut. With brother Bastian on drums and Luques Curtis on bass, Weinhold is supported harmonically by pianist Fabian Almazan and finds an indispensable accomplice in saxophonist Adam Larson, who shares intricate, chopsbusting unison lines with the guitarist on “The Almost Too Loud One,” “Forgotten Plains” and “Dragonfly.” Weinhold’s notey tendencies are tempered on the gorgeous “Ballad for Anne” and on the sparsely appointed acoustic guitar feature “Away.”
Originally PublishedNils Weinhold: Shapes
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