Nels Cline

by Joslyn Layne & Sean Westergaard
Guitarist Nels Cline is best known for his work in the group Quartet Music (with brother Alex Cline, bassist Eric Von Essen, and violinist Jeff Gauthier) as well as other projects in the jazz, rock, and avant-garde idioms, and for his general involvement in the West Coast's improvisation community. Born in Los Angeles in 1956, Cline began playing guitar around the age of 12, when his twin brother, Alex, began learning the drums. By the time Cline reached his twenties, he was heavily involved in L.A.'s improvisational community and, in 1978, appeared on his first recording, Openhearted by multi-instrumentalist Vinny Golia. He went on to appear on over 70 releases, lead several of his own groups -- including the Nels Cline Trio and the sextet that followed, Destroy All Nels Cline -- and tour internationally with a variety of bands. As a composer, Cline has scored two films in addition to writing much of his own material. He has also produced albums for himself, G.E. Stinson, and Jeff Gauthier, among others.
Bassist Eric Von Essen and Cline met up in the late '70s, began working together and recorded an album of duets called Elegies that was released in 1980 on the 9 Winds label. Von Essen got involved in an orchestra with violinist Gauthier, and it wasn't long before the three formed a group of their own. Cline's brother Alex sat in on their first concert and eventually joined on permanently, resulting in the group Quartet Music, which remained together throughout the 1980s. In addition to his work in Quartet Music during this decade, Cline worked with Liberation Music Orchestra West Coast, was a member of a rock band called Bloc, worked with Julius Hemphill as well as Charlie Haden, and released his first album as leader, Angelica, which included members of Quartet Music, saxophonist Tim Berne, and more.
The first half of the '90s found his new Nels Cline Trio hosting a weekly improv series for four years and recording as many albums. During the 1990s, Cline also worked with Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth), Stephen Perkins (Jane's Addiction), Mike Watt (Minutemen), and the Geraldine Fibbers. 1999 brought the release of a duo recording by he and percussionist Gregg Bendian covering John Coltrane's Interstellar Space for the Atavistic label. That same year, the California Music Awards named Cline Outstanding Jazz Artist of 1999. The next year, he released Inkling on Cryptogramophon, beginning a collaborative relationship with Zeena Parkins that would continue for the next several years. Destroy All Nels Cline was next, followed by the formation of the Nels Cline Singers who released their first album, Instrumentals in 2002. In 2004, Cline was asked to join Wilco and has toured and appeared on all subsequent albums from them. That didn't mean he didn't have time for other projects: there have been several one-off collaborations in that time period and 2 albums by the trio of Cline, Zeena Parkins and Tom Rainey. In 2004, the Nels Cline Singers released Giant Pin which Cline followed with an album of Andrew Hill compositions in 2006, the sublime New Monastery. Draw Breath, another Nels Cline Singers album was released in the summer of 2007. Add to that all the sideman work he's done since the turn of the century and you've got one extremely busy and extremely versatile guitarist.