Tobin Mueller - Best of Tobin Mueller, Vol. 5: Chill (2023)

Best of Tobin Mueller presents his best contemporary jazz, funk, fusion, and vocal recordings. Volume 5 focuses on his chill jazz, new age and late night offerings.

I was going to say that this album shows us another side to Tobin Mueller, but after reviewing his previous albums, that sentence hardly does him justice. His willingness, not to mention his deftness and talent, to rework and reinterpret other people’s music, as well as his own, and do so in a way that brings something new to the table, is brave and clever. We have seen how great he is at building layers of tone and texture, deftly interlocking sounds, and creating wonderfully ornate musical weaves. Now, we see how good he is with the opposite. With space, understatement and restraint.
But what I love about Tobin Mueller the most is his understanding that songs, especially his own, are journeys rather than destinations, and there is no way of knowing when or where that journey ends. Such an attitude means he is always ready and willing to add the next step to the story of a song. To have it pass through new sonic realms and unexpected genres, to have it change and evolve over the years. I wish more artists would be this adventurous, this adaptable and this un-precious about their music.”