Share The Wealth
Blue Note, 2020
9/10
An extremely creative double album, The Nels Cline Singers don’t actually have any singing involved, but that doesn’t stop Cline and company from blending Skerik’s saxophone prowess and Cline’s guitar magic with the rest of the esteemed musician’s across the avant-garde adventure that’s some type of iconoclastic version of jazz.
“Segunda” starts the album with plenty of atmosphere as spirited guitar work, frisky percussion from Scott Amendola and Trevor Dunn’s warbling bass guide the innovative opener, and “Beam/Spiral” follows with a calmer approach where warm saxophone flows alongside some spacey ideas in the atypical restraint.
Elsewhere, “Headdress” flows with a percussively strong album highlight where synth ambience and soulful ideas meet, while “Princess Phone” displays much diversity in its busy landscape of calculated free jazz meets electronica. “The Pleather Patrol” then gets experimental and adventurous with its stylish rhythm and nods to funk with Brian Marsella’s key skills making an indelible impression.
The last 2 tracks are among the most notable, including the cinematic “A Place On The Moon”, that’s often ominous, shrouded in mystery and goes on for 20+ minutes and in and out of grooves in some type of off kilter, jam band fashion, and “Passed Down” exits the listen with a dreamy quality as Cline’s acoustic guitar and the eloquent saxophone interact playfully on the folk finish.
Perhaps best known for being the guitarist for Wilco since 2004, Cline has had his hand in all sorts of side projects over the years, and despite never playing a note live in this line up of The Nels Cline Singers, it just might be his most exciting and unclassifiable to date.
Travels well with: The Nels Cline 4- Currents, Constellations; Charles Lloyd & The Marvels- Vanished Gardens