On Nels Cline’s 3rd Blue Note release Share The Wealth, the sonic explorer and guitar renegade delivers a potent and provocative program of spontaneous, uncompromising, and ultimately compelling music with an expanded edition of his long-running project The Nels Cline Singers featuring saxophonist and punk-jazz iconoclast Skerik, keyboard marvel Brian Marsella, bass powerhouse Trevor Dunn, longtime collaborator and drummer Scott Amendola, and Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista. Together they revel in swirling, evocative soundscapes brimming with ferocious skronking and uninhibited stretching on this dynamic double album.
Composer Douglas J. Cuomo’s new piece, Seven Limbs, is unique and unusual. The suite features the simultaneous performance of inspired improvisations by guitar genius Nels Cline and meticulously-notated music performed by the Grammy-nominated Aizuri Quartet. Inspired by an ancient Buddhist prayer, also called Seven Limbs, it is music of great power that is put in service to a spiritual ideal, in the tradition of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme and the music of Arvo Pärt.
Guitarist Nels Cline has generated a high profile since becoming a member of Wilco, but it’s his solo work that defines him – he can always be counted upon to thwart expectations. Initiate is the fourth album by the Nels Cline Singers, a power trio with Devin Hoff on contra and electric bass, and Scott Amendola on drums, percussion, and electronics. Initiate is a double-disc recorded by producer David Breskin and engineer Ron Saint Germain. The first disc is a studio recording, the latter was cut live in San Francisco in 2009.
Released in semi-obscurity 25 years ago (2012), Angelica was American guitarist Nels Cline’s first date as leader and shows a remarkable maturity. Cline is better known these days as guitarist with Chicago hipsters Wilco, and there are few modern musicians who can run with the jazz hare and hunt with the rock hounds with such ease. This well-deserved reissue is a chance to hear where the young guitarist’s head was at and is notable also for an unusually consonant contribution from saxophonist Tim Berne – now undisputed heavyweight champion of New York’s downtown scene, then barely out of his 30s.
Nels Cline has developed a very personal sound on guitar but musically he's a tough guy to pin down, playing everything from pure, noisy free improvisation to pure rock & roll. Fortunately, Cline has no interest in being pinned down, as the newest album from the Nels Cline Singers clearly shows. On Draw Breath, Cline and company (Devin Hoff on bass and Scott Amendola on drums and live electronics) shift gears stylistically on virtually every track (sometimes within the same track), highlighting Cline's singular guitar skills in a variety of contexts.
Nels Cline and Vinny Golia have known and played with each other since the mid-'70s, but this is their first album of duets. Not that either of them is lazy, but they could have gotten to it earlier! The Entire Time offers a wonderful listen, full of daring moves, skillful exchanges and heartfelt friendship. Both players go through a wide array of instruments, ensuring that the set list is varied in terms of sound palette and playing techniques. Golia, always a soulful and highly creative player, treats us to his bass clarinet, alto flute, saxophones, and even xiao and dzi, adding an exotic flavor to some tunes. Cline goes from simple acoustic nylon-string guitar to elaborate set-ups of electric 12-string, effects and loops.