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.
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