The international collaboration between guitarists Ralph Towner from the USA, Wolfgang Muthspiel from Austria, and Slava Grigoryan, who was born in Kazakhstan and grew up in Australia, began in 2005 with joint concerts in Australia. Since then, the three musicians have toured extensively and quickly developed into a permanent ensemble. The group's first documented milestone was released in 2009 as a recording on Material Records, Muthspiel's label. Later, Ralph Towner brought the project to ECM, where the trio recorded a new album in Lugano in August 2012 under the direction of producer Manfred Eicher. While Towner has played a significant role at ECM for over four decades, this marks Muthspiel and Grigoryan's debut on the label. Grigoryan is considered Australia's leading classical guitarist of his generation, while Muthspiel has been a defining figure in the transatlantic jazz scene for twenty years – both with his own bands and as a member of ensembles such as those led by Gary Burton and Paul Motian. What all three musicians have in common is a pronounced sense of structure, lyrical improvisation, and spatial awareness, employing their instrumental skills to achieve elegant musical results. The repertoire consists of five compositions each by Towner and Muthspiel.
