Share The Wealth

· by Alain Brunet

Nels Cline has led a double, even triple or quadruple musical life since his professional debut. As a rock soloist with Wilco, he also performs contemporary jazz, free improvisation, noise, avant-rock, avant-folk, electroacoustic, and contemporary music of European tradition. It would be a mistake to try to confine him to any one of those boxes. Cline is one of those visionaries evolving at the antipodes of any sectarianism. Fans of American rock recognise his singularity, fans of contemporary music follow his career with interest, practitioners of extreme eclecticism happily enter his universe. The Nels Cline Singers have already given some memorable concerts. Jazz is most probably their dominant idiom, but Share The Wealth includes several stops that have little to do with it. Like John Zorn’s projects such as Electric Masada and The Dreamers, this group embodies what jazz-fusion should have become long ago, before it was transformed into performance music, a forum reserved for virtuoso soloists whose playing too often unfolds at the expense of compositional vision. Luckily, new projects from the original jazz-fusion are emerging from amid the repetition and showboating. Cline is one of the key craftsmen of this trend, combining several traditions around a sort of jazz descending from the great electric sessions conducted in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Not only can we identify references to Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Josef Zawinul, Chick Corea, and John McLaughlin, but also to other compositional aesthetics. The Nels Cline Singers is a variable ensemble yet a well-oiled, quick-response machine. Surrounding Cline are saxophonist Skerik, keyboardist Brian Marsella, bassist Trevor Dunn, drummer Scott Amendola, and percussionist Cyro Baptista. No singers in the Nels Cline Singers! This work sits in the realm of human singing that human machines have extended since time immemorial.

Latest 360 Content

Sight + Sound | Fili Gibbons

Sight + Sound | Fili Gibbons

Opera McGill | Imeneo of Handel through the lens of Patrick Hansen

Opera McGill | Imeneo of Handel through the lens of Patrick Hansen

Mivos Quartet: three times Reich at Bourgie

Mivos Quartet: three times Reich at Bourgie

Éléonore Lagacé and Brûlez-moi vive: pop on fire

Éléonore Lagacé and Brûlez-moi vive: pop on fire

Gloin – All of your anger is actually shame (and I bet that makes you angry)

Gloin – All of your anger is actually shame (and I bet that makes you angry)

Pro Musica | Piano prodigy Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: “serious”, “introverted” and… extremely refined

Pro Musica | Piano prodigy Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: “serious”, “introverted” and… extremely refined

Boubé – Voyager

Boubé – Voyager

An Invitation to Travel by Boubé

An Invitation to Travel by Boubé

Ingrid Saint-Pierre – Five Upright Piano Songs

Ingrid Saint-Pierre – Five Upright Piano Songs

SAT | Le Couleur Changes Spectrum, But First…

SAT | Le Couleur Changes Spectrum, But First…

Whispering Worlds – Cosmic Cliffs

Whispering Worlds – Cosmic Cliffs

ContaQt/Yaz Lancaster/Evan Ziporyn – ConneQt IV

ContaQt/Yaz Lancaster/Evan Ziporyn – ConneQt IV

Nick Storring – Mirante

Nick Storring – Mirante

Housewife – Girl Of The Hour

Housewife – Girl Of The Hour

Los Pirañas – Una Oportunidad Más de Triunfar en la Vida

Los Pirañas – Una Oportunidad Más de Triunfar en la Vida

Ariane Brisson/Philip Chiu – Prokofiev: Flute and Piano Sonatas

Ariane Brisson/Philip Chiu – Prokofiev: Flute and Piano Sonatas

The girls slay Turbo Haus

The girls slay Turbo Haus

marcel – ô fornaiz

marcel – ô fornaiz

Bella White: a newer country bluegrass star

Bella White: a newer country bluegrass star

Classic Rock… Hard Rock… Bob Rock… The Damn Truth!

Classic Rock… Hard Rock… Bob Rock… The Damn Truth!

Dicko Fils: on the road to modernity for the Fulani people

Dicko Fils: on the road to modernity for the Fulani people

Ana Krstajić et Joey Reda – Confluence

Ana Krstajić et Joey Reda – Confluence

CC Duo/collectif9 – Re/String

CC Duo/collectif9 – Re/String

Subscribe to our newsletter