A gorgeous album, rooted in familiarity yet able to thoroughly explore modern jazz as it heads into the future. It goes without saying that the playing is of the highest caliber, but it is also those deft and delicate arrangements that make everything so engaging."
Blue Side is a collaborative project between jazz pianist Tobin Mueller and alto saxophonist Tomás Martinez (hailed as an "up and coming sensation"). The music runs the jazz gauntlet, from contemporary jazz, blues, be-bop, and modal post-bop. Most compositions are by Mueller, examples of his fluid, stream-of-consciousness Impressionist Modernism compositional style. The recordings are predominantly duets, saxophone and piano, or trios (with Martinez layering in two sax parts, or Mueller overdubbing standup bass). Mueller also contributes standup bass and organ on a few tracks. Martinez solos on both alto and tenor saxophones. Martinez's fellow Argentinian, Juan Torres Fernández, plays backing tenor sax for one track on each volume. Occasional percussion is added by hand percussionist Ruben de Ruiter (The Netherlands) and drummer Shahar Haziza (Israel).
Blue Side will be release digitally as two separarte volumes, April 12 and June 2, 2026. It will also be released as a double album CD, date TBA, for those who still enjoying owning their music, physically.
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One of the most diverse and talented jazz composers today. Contemporary jazz at its finest."
Mueller first encountered Martinez when he was looking for a saxophonist for his previous project, Fragments. At that time, Martinez was living in Buenos Aires, Aregntina. Upon the release of Fragments in January 2025, Martinez moved to New York City, becoming Mueller's neighbor. So they decided to record an entire album together. While in NYC, Martinez recorded an album of hos own originals and covers at Rudy Van Gelder Studios, In Good Company, with Michael Weiss, David Wong and Kenny Washington, as well.
Tomás Martinez
Blue Side will be release digitally as two separarte volumes, April 12 and June 2, 2026. It will also be released as a double album CD, date TBA, for those who still enjoying owning their music, physically.
Blue Side is co-produced by Kenny Cash, who has also produced such albums as Prestidigitation, Fragments, Standard Deviations, Müller's Wheel, Come In Funky, as well as the Best of Tobin Mueller Most of the tunes on Blue Side were originally recorded by Mueller as solo piano pieces. The addition of saxophone, and in some cases bass and percussion, has change the character of many of the compositions. The result is yet another unique addition to Mueller's catalog.
Tobin Mueller
Cover art for Blue Side by Denise Mayotte.
The recordings were mixed and mastered at Factory Underground Studio, produced by Kenny Cash, as well as Mueller himself. The warmth and context of each piece brings to mind the great studios of the past. They put you in the room with the performers, surrounded by a widely mic’d piano and the fullness of Martinez’s saxophone. A truly masterful set, worthy of multiple listens.
Let Me Play starts off the collection. It is a very playful piece. Mueller combines rhythmic jabs with jazzy humor as Martinez blows over the top with his distinctive smooth alto. The piece builds into a fusion rollick as drummer Shahar Haziza takes over the beat half way through. Juan Torres Fernández, on both tenor and alto saxes, provides a full reed section of stabs and building chords.
Monk's Thelonious Sphere follows with a unique blues, inspired by the inventive stylings of Thelonious Monk. Mueller’s forceful piano is a truly equal voice to there varied jazz-blues phrasings Martinez plays on tenor. Mueller overdubs standup bass, showing his versatility as a musician.
• Tobin Mueller: acoustic piano
• Tomás Martinez: tenor saxophones
• Ruben de Ruiter: finger cymbals, chimes, bodhrán
Just Above The Ground uses an echo technique to create a sense of suspension and spaciousness. Martinez’s tenor sax floats over the top of Mueller’s flowing piano, like a bird in flight. Specific phrase are repeated, reverberating from afar, creating a sense of expanse was well as deja vu. This lends the middle section, when the echo falls away, more immediacy. Delicate finger cymbals, cymbal rolls and hand drumming, played by Ruben de Ruiter, help to add drama to the moments of internal climax.
• Tobin Mueller: acoustic piano
• Tomás Martinez: alto saxophones
Shadow of Success has Martinez playing two alto sax parts in this piece that feels like it is part Vaudeville, part contemporary satire. Quirky and inventive, it combines humor and melodrama. Mueller has written several Broadway musicals, and this piece brings a stage character, perhaps someone like a Court Jester. Yet, a desire for grandeur haunts each phrase, as the title suggests.
Summertime is a unique cover of Gershwin’s classic. Mueller plays both stand-up bass as well as piano. The bass is reminiscent of a Led Zeppelin blues, yet Mueller’s piano, starting sparse then growing into unexpected splendor, gives the piece a rise and fall structure. The actually melody I not stated until. Two-thirds the way through, giving the audience a satisfying “Aha!” moment at the piece’s climax. The piece then recedes into the blues from which it began.
Birth Joy is an energetic piano solo by Mueller, one long improvisational eruption of old school Oscar Peterson-styled blues, played with a modern flair. It sets up the bop-blues that follows.
Salmon Ladder is another trio in which Mueller plays both piano and stand-up bass. Mueller’s performance again shows his Monk-influenced style. Martinez supplies both melody and fills on alto sax, reminiscent of Charlie Parker. This bop-blues piece incorporates both a sense of humor and an authentic homage. You feel the joy of reaching the top of the salmon ladder as the piece ends.
• Tobin Mueller: acoustic piano
• Tomás Martinez: alto saxophone
The Shape of Love is a beautiful waltz ballad by Mueller. Martinez plays over constantly changing keys with effortless grace. His alto sax has all the warmth of the larger tenor. He combines breathy intimacy with depth of sound. This is an exquisitely balanced composition. His lines keep moving forward, creating new phrases that keep extending the melody further than expected. A wonderfully conceived and sculpted duet.
• Tobin Mueller: acoustic piano
• Tomás Martinez: alto saxophone
Tide Pools, in contrast, is more like an improvised conversation between pianist of saxophonist. Consciousness-streaming over a constantly morphing tonal center. A wonderful example of Impressionistic Modernism for which Mueller is known. Martinez returns to his tenor sax, introducing this river-like piece with a short phrase that drops into the water and creates ever-changing ripples and reflections. Mueller is known for these kinds of long lines and flowing architecture. Like Just Above the Ground, provides Martinez with time and space to ascend, hover, spiral and soar.
Slow Dance ends Volume One of the collection. A beautiful solo piano piece showing Mueller’s compositional prowess and ability to create endless variations. His countermelodies move through every register on the keyboard. Each verse paints with different colors. His improvisational runs all serve the every morphing melody. When he finally returns to the original theme, the journey to get there is never forgotten. As if an entire life, a life well lived, has just been revealed, in music, alone.
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