NELS CLINE SINGERS
Draw Breath
Cryptogramophone
Artists like Nels Cline demonstrate just how
far we have come in terms of being able to hear connections
between musical genres and finally realize that music is
a single creative flow that expresses itself in many different
ways depending upon one’s culture, access to the music
marketplace, opportunities to perform, etc. Cline has proved
an adventurous arranger and improvisor on recordings such
as New Monestary, his take on the legacy of jazz
composing/arranging giant Andrew Hill. He is also a fine
rootsy, alt-country player, as evidenced by his recent work
with Wilco. For his work as an aural sculptor, Cline turns
to his ironically named trio, the Nels Cline Singers.
As an example check out Track 4, ‘Evening
At Pops,’ on which the trio freely improvises in very
outspoken fashion. This is free improvisation that depends
upon the listeners’ ability to hear music not just
as song forms and melodies, nor even as harmonically complex,
but rather as pure sound. This is not the type of music
to listen to and ask—‘what instrument or effect
was that?’ Instead, one revels in the shape of the
sounds as they unfold and interact. That’s not something
the average Wilco listener is going to be prepared to do
for about sixteen minutes. So this is a clear example of
the way Cline is thinking of this group’s work.
That influences the way one hears the rest
of the diverse material on this CD. The opening track, “Caved-In
Heart Blues” does have a lot in common with some of
Bill Frisell’s recent Americana-influenced recordings.
But, with around two and a half minutes left in the track,
it suddenly shifts into a serene ambient soundscape broken
by periodic, distinctive guitar sounds, an approach that
calls to mind the Eno/Fripp collaborations No Pussyfooting
and Evening Star. “Attempted” is a
post-bop jazz trio romp that gets pretty ‘outside.’
“Confection” is rather like an ‘80s or
early ‘90s instrumental new-wave rave up, though Devin
Hoff’s bowed bass solo certainly comes as an unexpected,
pleasant surprise.
On the other side of ‘Evening of Pops”
comes ‘The Angel of Angels,’ an incredibly beautiful
multi-track guitar extravaganza that could appeal easily
to fans of AOR, new age music, film soundtrack work, and
instrumental Americana. Truth is, this track could be played
most anywhere, from an alt-rock concert to the local shopping
mall, without upsetting anyone, and there’s great
musicianship on display to boot. Cline does two near-solo
acoustic guitar numbers on this second half as well—“Recognize”
and “Recognize II.” It’s sparse but far
from easy listening fare. These tracks are sometimes a little
reminiscent of certain Ralph Towner recordings, which is
certainly a pleasant association. In between these two meditiations
comes the hurly burly of “Mixed Message,” which
starts out as another high-powered free jazz number. It
maintains that energy for about half of its fourteen-plus
minutes and then dissolves into a chill out section in which
sounds appear on the horizon, move quickly towards us, and
then pass by or are deflected, like some aural ballet of
space junk. Have no fear, though, the energy returns for
a guitar-shredding conclusion.
The finale, the eight-plus minute “Squirrel
of God” is an experiment that doesn’t quite
work in that it requires the listener to sit through six
or so minutes of seemingly random sound samples before the
sort of payoff near the end when guest percussionist Glenn
Kotche enters on glockenspiel. But that doesn’t keep
Draw Breath from being one of the most interesting
guitar albums released in a year that looks like it will
see more than its share of good fretboard work.
