WINTER 2008 UPDATE

You may not know some of these names. That's why we now have "the information superhighway". Search and learn...

Just completed, no release date:

I was commissioned by author/producer David Breskin to compose and record pieces for an upcoming book on the art of legendary L.A. artist Ed Ruscha. The book, called "Dirty Baby", will be a recontextualization of Ruscha's work as envisioned by Mr. Breskin, who selected and organized the pieces to accompany his poems. It will be divided into "Side A" and "Side B" on two CDs that will accompany the art/writing, with each "side" dealing with different aspects of Ruecha's slightly lesser-known work form the late 80s and 90s: The "Silouette Paintings" and the "Cityscapes". It is a brilliant (to my mind) recontextualization, and there were two ensembles put together for each "side". Personnel for Side A: Bill Barrett, Wayne Peet, Glenn Taylor, Jon Brion, Jeremy Drake, Danny Frankel, Devin Hoff, Scott Amendola, and yours truly. For Side B: Scott, Devin, Alex Cline, Vinny Golia, Dan Clucas, Jeff Gauthier, Jessica Catron, Jeremy Drake, Brad Dutz, and yours truly. Most of these musicians are, like Mr. Ruscha, talents from the City of Lost Angels. Love them! The session was produced by Mr. Breskin and engineered by the amazing Ron St. Germain. I wrote 39 pieces of music for this; 33 of them short pieces for the relatively intimate "Cityscapes" on "Side B". The session was recorded and mixed in 8 days! Stay tuned...

Other recording at year's end/beginning:
The Jeff Gauthier Goatette's next Cryptogramophone release ("House of Return") was recorded in early January. It is space jazz/prog/Third Stream steam for the thinking lunatic. Personnel: Jeff Gauthier, David Witham, Joel Hamilton, Alex Cline, yours truly, who contibuted 2 new songs to the stew. To be released later this year (summer?).

A track for Lydia Lunch's next online salvo, involving many artists from around the globe. My track saw Becca Michalek, Doug Lunn, Dan Clucas, and Brian Cristopherson wailing at Scott Fraser's Mt. Washington studio. No release date.

Sounds for Italian sound duo My Cat Is An Alien's proposed multi-disc box set dealing with outer space comnmunication. Guests!

Mike Watt and The Black Gang's recording session had to be postponed due to Watt's illness in December and my messed up left arm/hand in January. Set for early April.

OUT NOW:

Wally Shoup/Greg Campbell/Nels Cline: "Suite: Bittersweet" (Strange Attractors Audio House vinyl LP)



Seattle's own Shoup (alto saxophone) and hidden treasure Campbell (drums, percussion, French horn) and I did some free playing there a while ago, and this was one of the results. 'Live', originally for radio broadcast, and with fabulous hi-grade vinyl and artwork by Mr. Shoup himself, how can you refuse??


Steven Bernstein: "Diaspora Suite" (Tzadik CD)



A wild and wonderful slab of "Radical Jewish Culture" from a whirlwind session recorded in Berkeley last year. Personnel: Mr. B, Ben Goldberg, Jeff Cressman (who also engineered!), Peter Apfelbaum, John Schott, Devin Hoff, Scott Amendola (misspelled on the CD cover - ooops!), Josh Jones, yours truly. Will Bernard added some post-production dabs. I am proud of this one.

Nels Cline/Carlos Giffoni/Lee Ranaldo: "Nothing Makes Any Sense" (No Fun Productions CD)



Recorded 'live' at Tonic NYC last year, this was a sonic shitstorm assemmbled by yours truly and mounted by mssrs. Giffoni (analog synth), Licht (el. gtr.), Ranaldo (el. gtr., bells), and yours truly. With appropriated liner notes by the late Peter Laughner, this is one slab of sound that you should probably TURN UP.

Devin Sarno: "FULL dynamics-frequency SPECTRUM" (Banned Production) 3" CD

This is a 15 minute ambient/improv ensemble recording featuring (my occassional duet collaborator) Devin Sarno on bass along with yours truly on acoustic guitar, Vincent Gallo (electric guitar), Bobb Bruno (keyboards) & Joseph Hammer (tape loops). Housed in a 3.5" square cardboard box (with 4 page mini booklet) this is a limited edition/hand assembled release. Also available digitally on iTunes.

Soon to be released:

Evangelista: "Hello, Voyager" (Constellation CD/LP)



Evangelista is the new moniker for Carla Bozulich and Co., Co. meaning her pals in Montreal + Tara Barnes, Shahzad Ismaily, and yours truly on one track, "The Blue Room". A perfect followup to "Evangelista", and to my ears even better. A must. Watch for her on tour. Release date: March 11 (USA), Feb 25 (UK/Europe).

A double CD + DVD compilation celebrating the 10th anniversary of Cryptogramophone Records. Besides a bunch of fabulous previously-released stuff from the Crypto stable of uncategorizable talents, there will be a DVD which includes an hour-long feature on my band that pays homage to the music of the great Andrew Hill. It includes 'live' footage from New York's Jazz Standard and Los Angeles' now-defunct CryptoNight at Club Tropical, plus some brief interview footage with members of the group. It was put together by the wonderful pianist David Witham (see: Jeff Gauthier Goatette, among other things). Also included on the DVD is an amazing "video" by Carole Kim of a piece by the improv trio of Jeff Gauthier/G.E. Stinson/Alex Cline. Beautiful... I know that few people buy compilation CDs, but this one is pretty great, if you like great.

What's next? Wilco. And 2 gigs in Europe with the visionary trumpeter/composer Wadada Leo Smith.

Happy New Year.

MORE...

I recorded a soundtrack of overdubbed guitars and such for a documentary by Ian Brennan called "Champion Swimmer" about his father's family, which was submitted for consideration at Sundance. Will it see the light of day? Here's hoping...

I played some acoustic 12-string on an amazing song on the new Carla Bozulich record, "Hello Voyager". The song, "The Blue Room", will be out this Spring on Constellation. She is just calling her project EVANGELISTA now, rather than Carla Bozulich. Look for it!

I also played on some of producer Hal Wilner's ongoing sea chanty project the other night in L.A. He is working on Volume II. I, along with Greg Cohen, Danny Frankel, David Pilch, Casey Waits, Steve Weinstein, and Tony Gilkyson, recorded 3 sea chantys w/ 3 different singers: Jill Sobule, Chuck E. Weiss, and Shane McGowan. No idea when these tracks will see the light of day, but check out Volume I while you're waiting...


NELS CLINE SINGERS "DRAW BREATH" CD is OUT NOW on Cryptogramophone.



Of course the band is Devin Hoff (contrabass), Scott Amendola (drums, percussion, 'live' electronics), and yours truly. Glenn Kotche is our guest playing percussion on one track. Here is the sequence/track listing:

CAVED-IN HEART BLUES
ATTEMPTED
CONFECTION
AN EVENING AT POPS'
THE ANGEL OF ANGELS
RECOGNIZE I
MIXED MESSAGE
RECOGNIZE II
SQUIRREL OF GOD

We spent an extra day tracking - a luxurious 3 days! - and consequently ended up recording a whole other album's worth of free pieces (with no electronics/effects) dedicated to the late, great guitarist Howard Roberts. I played a beautiful mid-70s Gibson Howard Roberts guitar on these tracks. Maybe it will be streamed on Cryptogramophone's website or something. Maybe we can release it on vinyl...Once again the fabulous Rich Breen recorded and mixed, and Jeff Gauthier held our hands, gave us knowing glances, and made sure we were nourished (in other words, produced). Artwork for the package is by the wonderful painter Angela DeCristofaro.

FROM NELS (MAY 15, 2007):



Acoustic Guitar Trio: Rod Poole (L), NC, Jim McCauley (R)

It is with great sadness and deep shock that I sit here in my hotel room in New York pondering the senseless murder of one of my favorite artists of all time, Rod Poole. I formed a microtonal improvising trio with the guitarists Rod, Jim McCauley, and myself called Acoustic Guitar Trio. One of my motivations for this was to just get closer to Rod and his art, to the haunting beauty of his music. What with my constant road work and divergent personal realm, Rod and I had been in touch less and less frequently, which really felt bad. Rod was a true artist, probably a genius. He had an amazing capacity as both music fan and autodidact musician visionary. He was stubborn, thorny at times, but always because of his intense feelings and ideas concerning creative expression, especially that of the sound world. His death was pointless, and from reports, horribly violent. I feel sick. We are a disaster as a society. I can't stop thinking about him and his wife Lisa. What a nightmare... And it hasn't even really fully sunk in that I will never again see this man, never play music with him again, never hear him play, sit in his Hollywood apartment listening to music, drinking fine beers, thumbing through his recent eBay acquisitions of Sun Ra, Hendrix bootlegs...never again play music with him. His solo CDs "The Death Adder" and "December 96", both out-of-print (WIN Records) are shining examples of artistic vision and depth, his just-intonated Martin acoustics spinning beguiling arpeggios resonating with majestic/intimate sonorous beauty. All possible love to you, Rod. I thought I was speechless, but here are the words, and here come the tears..

Here is a sample of some of the music we made together as Acoustic Guitar Trio.

Rod Poole is arguably one of the most under-documented masters of our time. Not that there weren't any recordings made. Rod had recorded a lot of material that has not seen the light of day. His last CD ("Mind's Island"), a beautiful series of duets with vocalist Sasha Bogdanowitsch could easily have been followed by many great solo recordings that he was waiting to do the right way - either with the nicest label, on the best vinyl, etc. I do know that Acoustic Guitar Trio has tons of stuff "in the can", not the least of which is a 'live' recording from the Downtown Playhouse we called VIGNES, plus some studio recordings done at Scott Fraser's place, plus lots more 'live' stuff thanks to the fact that Rod recorded everything. Further illumination of this brilliant individual may be possible. Time will tell.

Forced Exposure Mail Order
Voice of The Bowed Guitar (streaming live recording)


FROM NELS (APRIL 20, 2007):

I am sitting here in Sydney, Australia. April 20th would have been my father's 92nd birthday, were he still alive. And Andrew Hill has died. As most of you know, I love his music. I recorded some of his pieces on my CD, released last year, called NEW MONASTERY: A View Into the Music of Andrew Hill (Cryptogramophone). I recorded it as a tribute to a LIVING MASTER and inspiration. I didn't know it when I came up with the idea to do the project, but Andrew Hill was gravely ill. Now he is released from suffering. His years-long struggle with lung cancer is over. I write this to send my love and condolences to his family and friends, and to send all possible love to the spirit of Andrew Hill. In a strange twist of fate, my sextet that plays his music was asked to open for Mr. Hill's group at the San Francisco Jazz Festival last October. It was nerve-wracking for me, but also exciting, and Andrew was generous, telling me, after I expressed a sheepishness about playing his music in front of him, that what was important was that I was doing MY interpretation - that that's what it's all about. He also said, more than once, in a voice that was becoming increasingly tiny from his fight to live, "And I really like what you are doing with the accordion", referring to Andrea Parkins' contribution. Accordion was Andrew Hill's first instrument, which he apparently played on the streets of Chicago as a lad.... This sextet of mine also played last month in New York, the same week that Mr. Hill played what was probably his last concert. It was a free afternoon event at The Trinity Church. I was way uptown at Colunbia University shilling for my band's gigs on the radio, and had no idea until it was too late that he was going to play this concert of what he was calling "ecclesiastical music" with his trio. I learned that Andrew's health had become even worse, that he could barely speak. I missed the concert, but I think it may still be streaming as a film document on the Internet. I suggest you seek it out. I suggest that you seek out all of Andrew Hill's music. It is visionary, unpredictable, wide-ranging in approach, loose-limbed yet articulate, and as I have said before, much like the man: beautiful and free. Love to you, Andrew Hill. Love to your family. The music you made lives on. In loving memory.

Click to check out Nels featured on the Monturo Guitars website.


Nels is featured on this You Tube clip rocking a Giant Balloon Reverb! Check it out.



Click logo to check out the Rolling Stone "Guitar Gods" article which featured Nels.


The concerts that occurred December '06 at The Stone in New York that were curated by The Downtown Music Gallery are to be released gradually in some form this year. Please stay on top of this, people. Some great stuff went down! As for my part, the concerts I did in duet with Zeena Parkins and in Vinny Golia's Quartet were really memorable, beautiful experiences. I think they will emerge in CD or DVD format, and I hope you check them out.

THERE ARE CDs OUT NOW THAT I PLAYED ON...

GUILT BY ASSOCIATION compilation CD (Engine Room Recordings)



Mike Watt - "Burnin' For You" (Blue Oyster Cult cover song feat. Watt, Chad Smith, Money Mark Nishita, petra Haden, and yours truly).

I'M NOT THERE original soundtrack (Columbia Records)



I am on 5 or 6 tracks. The band + vocalists = Tom Verlaine, Lee Ranaldo, Smokey Hormel, Steve Shelley, Tony Garnier, John Medeski, Steve Malkmus, Eddie Vedder, Karen O. (the Lee Ranaldo-produced tracks) that's us.

ALAN PASQUA - The Anti-Social Club CD (Cryptogramophone)



A totally spirited, neo-70s jazz/rock blowing session led by the incredible and versatile Mr. Pasqua, who WAS THERE, people! He has played keyboards with a staggering number of amazing musicians - it's truly daunting. Read up. The session included Jimmy Haslip on bass and Scott Amendola on drums.

DAVID WITHAM - Spinning the Circle (Cryptogramophone CD) OUT NOW on Cryptogramophone.



Keyboard wizard Witham (whom some of you may know from either the Jeff Gauthier Goatette and/or George Benson's band) has made a groovy, throwdown beats and bleats disc with a bunch of his pals. I played on 2 tracks.

WILCO - Sky Blue Sky (Nonesuch CD/LP)



There will no doubt be a ton of hype and maybe concomitant dread around this much-anticipated release - the first sudio recording of the band with Pat Sansone and yours truly as members. I have never been involved with a "much-anticipated" release! I think I will just sit back and watch the parade... No amount of hype, dread, or blather can detract from my satisfaction with the music on this record. It was recorded totally independently in Chicago in the Wilco loft, and the experience was rewarding, relaxed, and fruitful.

ELLIOTT SHARP/NELS CLINE - Duo Milano (Long Song CD)



Recorded in Milan, this is the first release (our actual first one never came out) by this duo - a personal favorite. The improvised pieces are both electric and acoustic, and the music is by turns intimate, textural, and apocalyptic/psychedelic. The cover photograph is by the great Ralph Gibson. Available nowfrom IndieJazz.com. Thanks to Fabrizio Perssinotto. Downtown Music Gallery says: "This fabulous disc consists of ten amazing duets, five acoustic and five electric pieces. Superbly recorded and immensely satisfying in sonic detail. The acoustic side balances super-quick harp-like flourishes with the naked purity of spacious, bluesy e-bow drones. The electric side is dark and dreamy with strange, bent-note ballistics. From quietly cosmic to extremely intense."

ANDREA PARKINS/TOM RAINEY/NELS CLINE - Downpour (Victo CD)



This has just emerged from Victoriaville, Canada! It is the set from last year's Musique Actuelle Festival there by the trio I put in motion a few years ago with Andrea Parkins (keyboards, laptop) and Tom Rainey (drumset). It's the first thing we've gotten out since Ash & Tabula (Atavistic), and I might say it SMOKES. What an honor to tear it up with these two...Thanks to Michel Levasseur and everyone at Victo.

ELENI MANDELL - Miracle of Five (Zedfone Records)



Eleni has been wriring/singing/playing around L.A. and the world for a while now. She is a delight. Ex-Fibber Kevin Fitzgerald plays drums with her. I played on a bunch of tracks, but I think I am noticeable on about 5 here. The mood is winsome, a bit melacholy, and a bit retro.

ANTHONY SHADDUCK QUARTET - Debut (Sounds Are Active)



This is a "free jazz" disc, very limited pressing, with young SoCal bassist Anthony Shadduck, woodwind wildman and keeper-of-the-flame Lynn Johnston (do your homework), ubiquitous drummer extraordinaire Ches Smith, and yours truly. Recorded in Lynn's parents' living room one hazy Sunday afternoon, it's got some great chemistry and cogent crosstalk.

M.WARD - To Go Home 7" (Merge)



Word on the street is that a song I played on for M.Ward (cover of Jimmie Dale Gilmore's "Headed For A Fall") is coming out this month on 7" vinyl. You'll know it's me if you hear it because I am doing my now-familiar "rave-up" solo. Hope you're not tired of it! Compared to Mr. M.'s moody, reverb-y songs, this one pretty much ROCKS...I hope someone sends me a copy!

CHRIS MURPHY - Luminous (Kufala Recordings CD)



Electric violinist Murphy said he wanted to do a really "L.A" record, and he totally overachieved in the personnel department: Mike Watt, John Doe, Victoria Williams, DJ Bonebrake, Stephen Hodges, Earl Harvin, L.Shankar, Larry Taylor...Good lord! The results are diverse as the players. I recorded in an apartment in the heart o' Hollywood. It actually is kind of "L.A." in that the simple, fuzzy, fiddle-laden pieces would probably make a great soundtrack to L.A. driving. I am credited with playing on 2 songs (tracks 5 & 6), but I am pretty sure I hear myself lurking around on track 3. In fact, after listening to this, I think they laid down so many tracks by different people that they got confused! Anyway, I finally got to play on a song with John Doe. Too bad we weren't playing together at the same time in the same room! Mr. Murphy digs his cinema. I'm on a track called "Night of the Hunter", and there's one called "Richard Widmark"...

DANIELE CAVALLANTI ELECTRIC UNIT - Smoke Inside (Long Song Records)



A large group of Italians and I recorded this, a set of “electric jazz”, in Milan for Long Song. It’s very early 70s style, and almost everyone involved with this fun record are old enough to really know how to play this stuff in the pre-FUSION way, which is to say, pre-“popping”, pre-“symphonic”, pre-CRAPPY.. Daniele, who I met and played with about 13 years ago, has a sound that reminds me of the great (and, sadly, recently departed) Dewey Redman.

GLANDS OF EXTERNAL SECRETION/MY CAT IS AN ALIEN (Opax/Very Friendly split series #5 CD)
This a split with the San Francisco-based noises-of-mystery unit Glands Of External Secretion and Italian "noise" duo (and are they ever ADORABLE - really!) My Cat Is An Alien. I play mangled lap steel on the 17-minute "Icebox (Defrosted Mix)" by The Glands, and if you can even find this it could be the perfect accompaniment to an evening of chopping exotic ingredients to add to what TV star chef Emeril Lagasse calls "refrigerator rice". This has been out for awhile and I forgot to write about it. I suck... I hear that there is a super-limited edition of this on vinyl and that the cover is an actual painting! Try Midheaven Mailorder if you are so inclined.


UPCOMING - SOON as well as LATER:

STEVEN BERNSTEIN "Diaspora Suite" CD (Tzadik) - The last of Mr. Bernstein's "Diaspora" series, the players were Bernstein, Ben Goldberg, Peter Apfelbaum, Josh Jones, Scott Amendola, John Schott, Devin Hoff, yours truly.

CLINE/GIFFONI/LICHT/RANALDO - "Nothing Makes Any Sense" CD (No Fun Productions)

GAUCI/PRIDE/FILIANO/CLINE: "Red Feast" CD (Cadence Jazz)

G.E STINSON/NELS CLINE - "Elevating Device Vol. 1" CD (Sick Room)
One of my favorite people is this fellow G.E. Stinson. He is a marvelous guitarist, an expert in creating ethereal and gut-level SOUNDS. We have collaborated in many ways in the past - from his band A Thousand Other Names to L.Stinkbug, to the G.E. Stinson String Group, to... This is our first duo recording, recorded in a studio in West L.A. The afternoon session yielded enough for at least 2 CDs of good stuff, but this first one is of a 45-minute improvised piece, all of it recorded in real time. Maybe we'll even get it released!

THE QUIET ORCHESTRA - An Internet-only large group explosion of contrasts led by young bassist Gabe Noel. Maybe if you Google this in another month or two something sonic will emerge out of your computer...

WHITE OUT 'LIVE' w/ yours truly as guest (TBA)
New York spaceprov genies Lin Culbertson (synth, autoharp, voice, flute) and Tom Surgal (drums) are sifting through recordings from Tonic (NYC) and various European dates to release a 'live' document. Good luck, kids! Most of this stuff was pretty damn good!....You can check out some live clips of us on YouTube.

STEPHEN GAUCI - Quartet recording with saxophonist Gauci, Ken Filiano (contrabass), Mike Pride (drums), and yours truly. Brooklyn free jazz that was a blast to do and may find its way to you all someday...

I recently went into Geza X's (do your homework) studio in Malibu with Mike Watt to record Blue Oyster Cult's "Burnin' For You" for a compilation called GUILTY PLEASURES, or some such thing. I guess there're more than one... Anyway, Watt, Chad Smith, and I threw down some neo-FM glory with Paul Roessler at the controls (keep on Googlin'...).



Petra Haden and "Money Mark" Nishita were apparently added later for full orchestral majesty. It was sick fun for sure. No idea when this tawdry gem will emerge, but if not for this it will be well worth it for Petra's version of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'"! And for what it's worth, I don't think Watt is the least bit guilty about liking BOC. Now if someone would just ask me to record New Order's "Regret"...Not guilty!



LOST AND WAITING TO BE FOUND:

LEE RANALDO/MARINA ROSENFELD/NELS CLINE 'Live' at Tonic NYC (purportedly an Atavistic "Out Trios" series CD)
While the rough of this recording sits somewhere in Sonic Youth's lair, another potential recording from Tonic with Lee (gtr, bells), Alan Licht (gtr), Carlos Giffoni (synth), and yours truly ALSO could emerge. The suspense is killing me. What will happen??
I apologize for the morass of releases/info. It takes me a while to remember this stuff, then to write about it, so it's all in a heap. Enjoy.

(*NEWS ARCHIVE)

JAZZ TIMES FEATURE: Check out Nels' article about the Andrew Hill CD & band in the Jan/Feb 07 issue of JAZZ TIMES.

NEW MONASTERY: A View Into the Music of Andrew Hill CD makes several year end Top lists!
Check out:

New York Times (Nate Chinen)
Villiage Voice
St. Louis Today

Also: DownBeat, Billboard, Time Out NY!

New Monastery has been nominated as a finalist for a 2007 Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Award in the category of
Jazz Album of The Year!


NEW CD RELEASES:

NEW MONASTERY: A View Into the Music of Andrew Hill (Cryptogramophone CD)
OUT NOW

I sometimes have trouble believing that I actually did this record, but I am pleased and rather proud of this, my new CD on Cryptogramophone. It is a sextet recording with those boys Scott Amendola and Devin Hoff (AKA The Singers) and Bobby Bradford (cornet), Andrea Parkins (accordion), and Ben Goldberg (Bb and contra-alto clarinets), and all the music is by the great pianist/composer Andrew Hill. Please click here to read my liner notes which will explain almost everything. Deluxe digipak with nice session photos included. I offer this with humble thanks to Mr. Hill and to all of you out there. Again, kudos to Crypto head and best pal Jeff Gauthier for enabling me…. AGAIN.

DAMSEL: Distressed (Temporary Residence CD)
OUT NOW



It is an odd accident/coincidence that this disc – a cathartic improvised blowout done the day after the presidential “election” – is being released on the same date as NEW MONASTERY (see above). The other people on this are Jonathan Hischke (electric bass), Zach Hill (drums), and Matt Zivich (EMS synth). It was Jonathan who successfully got the session together and recorded. I suggested that Matt join in because he’s a friend of Jonathan and… well, I don’t exactly know, but he was a stellar presence. The music is all improvised and overall pretty intense, which will be no surprise to folks who recognize Zach and Jonathan from bands/projects like Hella, The Flying Lutenbachers, Nervous Cop, etc. etc. Warning to all fans of skronk and skree: there is actually a quiet part or two on this record. Oh, and for all you trivia buffs/completists, I did the artwork on this. The package, thanks to Jeremy DeVine, the label svengali, is really nice.

SOME DISCS THAT I CONTRIBUTED TO THAT ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE:

JEFF TWEEDY: "SUNKEN TREASURE - Live in the Pacific Northwest" (Nonesuch DVD)



Yeas, I'm on a couple of songs on this, as is Glenn Kotche, so it's not COMPLETELY solo. But this document, directed/produced by the BURN TO SHINE team of Christoph Green and (Fugazi's own) Brendan Canty is really what it should be: a truly representative view, beautifully realized, of: Jeff Tweedy the man and the artist, Jeff's solo performances at the time, and the Pacific Northwest itself. These guys know how to capture the ambience of a place; the landscape, the architecture, the people on the street, PLUS they really understand MUSIC, and they capture Jeff's eloquent and acerbic performances (all the intimacy, all the banter, all the chatty audience members), along with minimally choice tidbits of hanging out, setting up.... It's all here. I opened one of the nights at The Fillmore, which is what's on here, and I was trying to play my Dobro, which is tuned to open 'G', on songs not in 'G'.... Well, I tried, but I kind of fell short. BUT: the feeling was great, and Glenn, who opened on the whole tour, is one of the great low-dynamic drummers around, as you will hear in his superbly nuanced cameos.

JEFF GAUTHIER: "ONE AND THE SAME" (Cryptogramphone CD)



Violinist and best pal (and Cryptogramophone kingpin/visionary) Jeff Gauthier's newest recording could arguably be his best. It contains his pieces, 2 by yours truly ("Don't Answer That" and "A Corner of Morning", both written specifically for this combo), 2 Eric Von Essen pieces... To Jeff's usual chamber jazz + blowing/rocking out this disc adds SPACE JAZZ, with Bennie Maupin's "Water Torture" plus spacey sonic interaction throughout. And it's not just me who's happy with this session - the thing is garnering glowing reviews from all over. Also featuring: Alex Cline, Joel Hamilton and David Witham AKA The Goatette.

RAMBLIN’ JACK ELLIOTT: I STAND ALONE (ANTI CD)



I am proud to be on this rather remarkable disc. There are some amazing people involved with this, and I played on it with Flea and DJ Bonebrake. I know, pretty wild. We are on 4 or 5 tracks, and we worked hard and had fun playing together, as I hope you can hear. Ian Brennan, the producer, worked long and hard with the legendary folksinger to bring you these mostly solo performances. They are sometimes very raw, and the last tidbit, “Woody’s Last Ride” , a spoken word moment, gives me goosebumps. Jack is back!

ALICIA BAY LAUREL: WHAT LIVING’S ALL ABOUT (CD)



Jazz, Blues, and Other Moist Situations (IW5003 CD) – Alicia is a self-proclaimed “hippie chick” who I met through (drummer) Joe Gallivan. She had a hit book back in the 60s called [stay tuned for title – forgot it], which she says “was in practically every hippie commune outhouse in the west” (no doubt right next to “Be Here Now”!). This is, I believe, self-released, and is quite an odd but strangely entertaining, original, and disarming recording. It has a some amazing L.A.-based session/jazz players like (saxophonist) Doug Webb, who reaches beyond his Coltrane-esque tenor to turn in some beautiful post-Desmond alto, brilliant drummer Kendall Kay, and bassist John B. Williams, whom many may remember as the Fender player on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson for many years. There is a choir on here! The songs are sort of 1920s-30s era swing, acoustic swing blues, and… Well anyway, when someone like Alicia asks me to do tons of Hendrix-inspired shrieking and psych looping (“America The Blues”) or fuzzed out adversarial commentary (“It’s Not Fair”), I figure that when the disc comes out that the stuff will, as it usually is, be buried or cut out altogether. I was amazed when I heard this that Alicia REALLY WANTED these sounds and that THEY ARE REALLY LOUD! I don’t know what people who know my music will think of this, but there is something so wry and self-deprecatingly amusing about Alicia’s hippie anthems, protest songs, and tales of failed romance that I find myself grinning. Hmmmm….Oh yes, I also play slide, lap steel, and acoustic guitar on this. I’m on 4 or 5 tracks.

FINISHED OR ALMOST FINISHED RECORDINGS TO LOOK FOR SOMEDAY:

MATT ELLIS – Matt is a “singer-songwriter” from Australia, and I think that is where his CD "Tell The People" will be released. It’s kind of folk/rock/blues/country/boogie/ballad material, and Matt is a splendid fellow with a real likeable “dude” voice. Greg Leisz plays some steel on this.