Nels Cline | |
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![]() Cline in 2004 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Nels Courtney Cline |
Born | (1956-01-04)January 4, 1956 (age 69) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Genres | Free jazz,experimental,noise,punk rock,indie rock |
Occupation | Musician |
Instrument | Guitar |
Years active | 1977–present |
Labels | Cryptogramophone,Nine Winds,Atavistic,Enja, Little Brother, Strange Attractors, Audio House, Long Song,Mack Avenue,Blue Note |
Website | www |
Signature | |
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Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956)[1] is an American guitarist and composer. He has been a guitarist for the bandWilco since 2004.
In the 1980s he playedjazz, often in collaboration with his twin brotherAlex, a percussionist. He has worked with musicians inpunk andalternative rock such asCarla Bozulich and theGeraldine Fibbers,Mike Watt andThurston Moore. He leads the Nels Cline Singers, Nels Cline Trio, and the Nels Cline 4.[citation needed]
Cline was named the 82nd greatest guitarist of all time byRolling Stone magazine in November 2011.[2]
Cline began to play guitar at age 12 when his twin brother Alex Cline started playing drums. The brothers developed together musically, playing in a rock band called Homogenized Goo.[3] Both graduated fromUniversity High School. Cline cites hearing a recording ofJimi Hendrix performing "Manic Depression" as a defining moment in his decision to become a guitarist.[4]
Cline has performed on over 150 albums in jazz, pop, rock, country, and experimental music. He was featured in a cover story byGuitar Player magazine for his work with the rock band Wilco.[5]
Cline is married toYuka Honda ofCibo Matto.[1][6] Their wedding was in Honda's hometown in Japan in November 2010.[1][6] They met through Mike Watt when he assembled the groupFloored by Four.[1][7] Cline joined Honda as a guest guitarist in theYoko Ono Plastic Ono band for their tour in 2010.[8] Cline joined Honda and her band Cibo Matto at the 2015 Solid Sound Festival.[9]
Year | Title | Label | Personnel/Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1981 | Elegies | Nine Winds | with Eric von Essen |
1988 | Angelica | Enja | |
1992 | Silencer | Enja | |
1995 | Ground | Krown Pocket | |
1996 | Chest | Little Brother | |
1997 | Pillow Wand | Little Brother | with Thurston Moore |
1997 | In-Store | Father Yod/W.D.T.C.H.C. | with Thurston Moore |
1998 | Rise Pumpkin Rise | Volvolo | with Devin Sarno |
1998 | Sad | Little Brother | |
1999 | Interstellar Space Revisited | Atavistic | with Gregg Bendian |
2000 | The Inkling | Cryptogramophone | |
2000 | Destroy All Nels Cline | Atavistic | |
2002 | Instrumentals | Cryptogramophone | |
2004 | Ash and Tabula | Atavistic | with Andrea Parkins & Tom Rainey |
2004 | The Entire Time | Nine Winds | with Vinny Golia |
2004 | Buried On Bunker Hill | Ground Fault | with Devin Sarno |
2004 | Graduation | free103point9 | with Chris Corsano & Carlos Giffoni |
2004 | The Giant Pin | Cryptogramophone | |
2005 | Banning + Center | Experimental Music Research | with Jeremy Drake |
2005 | Immolation & Immersion | Strange Attractors | with Wally Shoup & Chris Corsano |
2006 | Four Guitars Live | Important | with Ranaldo, Giffoni, & Moore |
2006 | New Monastery | Cryptogramophone | |
2007 | Draw Breath | Cryptogramophone | |
2007 | Suite: Bittersweet | Strange Attractors | with Wally Shoup & Greg Campbell |
2007 | Downpour | Victo | with Andrea Parkins & Tom Rainey |
2007 | Duo Milano | Long Song | with Elliott Sharp |
2007 | Nothing Makes Any Sense | No Fun | with Giffoni Licht Ranaldo |
2009 | Coward | Cryptogramophone | |
2009 | Elevating Device | Sounds Are Active | with G.E. Stinson |
2010 | Dirty Baby | Cryptogramophone | |
2010 | The Celestial Septet | New World | |
2010 | Initiate | Cryptogramophone | |
2012 | Jazz Free | There | with Henry Kaiser |
2012 | Open the Door | Public Eyesore | with Elliott Sharp |
2012 | The Gowanus Session | Porter | with Thollem & Parker |
2014 | Room | Mack Avenue | with Julian Lage |
2014 | Macroscope | Mack Avenue | |
2015 | Radical Empathy | Relative Pitch | with Thollem & Wimberly |
2016 | Molecular Affinity | Roaratorio | with Thollem & Oliveros |
2016 | Lovers | Blue Note | |
2018 | Currents, Constellations | Blue Note | |
2020 | Gowanus Sessions II | ESP Disk | with Thollem & Parker |
2020 | Share the Wealth | Blue Note | |
2025 | Consentrik Quartet | Blue Note | with Laubrock, Lightcap & Rainey |
With Acoustic Guitar Trio
Year | Title | Label |
---|---|---|
2001 | Acoustic Guitar Trio | Incus |
2009 | Vignes | Long Song |
WithBanyan
Year | Title | Label |
---|---|---|
1997 | Banyan | CyberOctave |
1999 | Anytime at All | CyberOctave |
2004 | Live at Perkins' Palace | Sanctuary |
With Quartet Music
Year | Title | Label |
---|---|---|
1981 | Quartet Music | Nine Winds |
1984 | Ocean Park | Nine Winds |
1986 | Window On the Lake | Nine Winds |
1989 | Summer Night | Delos |
WithWilco
Year | Title | Label |
---|---|---|
2005 | Kicking Television: Live in Chicago | Nonesuch |
2007 | Sky Blue Sky | Nonesuch |
2009 | Wilco (The Album) | Nonesuch |
2011 | The Whole Love | dBpm |
2014 | Alpha Mike Foxtrot | Nonesuch |
2015 | Star Wars | dBpm |
2016 | Schmilco | dBpm |
2019 | Ode to Joy | dBpm |
2022 | Cruel Country | dBpm |
2023 | Cousin | dBpm |
With other bands
Year | Artist | Title | Label |
---|---|---|---|
1985 | Rhythm Plague | Dressed for the Apocalypse | Killzone Music |
1991 | Bloc | In the Free Zone | A&M |
1995 | Geraldine Fibbers | Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home | Virgin/Universal |
1996 | A Thousand Other Names | A Thousand Other Names | Birdcage |
1997 | Geraldine Fibbers | Butch | Virgin |
2005 | Rova::Orkestrova | Electric Ascension | Atavistic |
2005 | Solo Career | Season Finale | Box-o-Plenty |
2006 | Damsel | Distressed Temporary | Temporary Residence |
2009 | West Coast Modern Day Punk Rock Orchestra | Correspondence | Elastic |
2010 | Floored by Four | Floored by Four | Chimera Music |
2010 | Rova | The Celestial Septet | New World |
2011 | bb&c | The Veil | Cryptogramophone |
2016 | Rova Channeling Coltrane | Electric Ascension & Cleaning the Mirror | RogueArt |
2017 | Big Walnuts Yonder | Big Walnuts Yonder | Sargent House |
2019 | Cup | Spinning Creature | Northern Spy |
2019 | Exoterm | Exits into a Corridor | Hubro |
2019 | Radical Empathy Trio, | Reality and Other Imaginary Places | ESP Disk |
2017 | Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York | Fukushima | Libra |
2019 | Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York | Entity | Libra |
2019 | Stretch Woven | Stretch Woven | Alstro |
Year | Main Artist | Title | Label |
---|---|---|---|
1979 | Vinny Golia | Openhearted | Nine Winds |
1980 | Tim Berne | 7X | Empire |
1984 | Julius Hemphill | Georgia Blue | Minor Music |
1986 | John Fumo | After the Fact | Nine Winds |
1991 | Dennis Gonzalez | The Earth and the Heart | Konnex |
1993 | Firehose | Mr. Machinery Operator | Columbia |
1993 | Vinny Golia | Against the Grain | Nine Winds |
1994 | Deborah Holland | Freudian Slip | Dog & Pony |
1995 | Vinny Golia | Razor | Nine Winds |
1995 | Mike Watt | Ball-Hog or Tugboat? | Columbia |
1995 | Mike Watt | Big Train | Columbia |
1996 | Gregg Bendian | Gregg Bendian's Interzone | Eremite |
1996 | Osamu Kitajima | Beyond the Circle | CyberOctave |
1996 | Joel Harrison | 3 + 3 = 7 | Nine Winds |
1997 | Vinny Golia | Nation of Laws | Nine Winds |
1997 | Mike Watt | Contemplating the Engine Room | Columbia |
1997 | Wayne Kramer | Citizen Wayne | Epitaph |
1998 | Henry Kaiser &Wadada Leo Smith | Yo Miles! | Shanachie |
1998 | Mary Lou Lord | Got No Shadow | Work |
2000 | Gregg Bendian | Myriad | Atavistic |
2001 | Gregg Bendian | Requiem for Jack Kirby | Atavistic |
2001 | Alex Cline | The Constant Flame | Cryptogramophone |
2001 | Steuart Liebig | Pomegranate | Cryptogramophone |
2002 | Jeff Gauthier | Mask | Cryptogramophone |
2002 | Mia Doi Todd | The Golden State | Columbia |
2003 | Carla Bozulich | Red Headed Stranger | Dicristina Stair Builders |
2003 | Rickie Lee Jones | The Evening of My Best Day | V2 |
2003 | Noe Venable | The World Is Bound by Secret Knots | Petridish |
2003 | John Zorn | Voices in the Wilderness | Tzadik |
2003 | Scott Amendola | Cry | Cryptogramophone |
2004 | Vinny Golia | One Three Two | Nine Winds |
2004 | Blue Man Group | The Complex | Lava |
2004 | Carla Bozulich | I'm Gonna Stop Killing | DiCristina Stair Builders |
2004 | Lydia Lunch | Smoke in the Shadows | Breakin Beats |
2005 | Dean De Benedictis | Salvaging the Past | Spotted Peccary |
2005 | Wayne Peet | Live at Al's Bar | pfMENTUM |
2005 | Scott Amendola | Believe | Cryptogramophone |
2006 | Jeff Gauthier | One and the Same | Cryptogramophone |
2006 | The Autumn Defense | The Autumn Defense | Broken Horse |
2006 | Ramblin' Jack Elliott | I Stand Alone | Anti- |
2006 | Matt Ellis | Tell the People | Krow Pie |
2006 | Todd Sickafoose | Blood Orange | Secret Hatch |
2006 | Jeff Tweedy | Sunken Treasure | Nonesuch |
2007 | Eleni Mandell | Miracle of Five | Zedtone |
2007 | Alan Pasqua | The Antisocial Club | Cryptogramophone |
2007 | M. Ward | To Go Home | 4AD |
2008 | Steven Bernstein | Diaspora Suite | Tzadik |
2008 | Huntsville | Eco, Arches & Eras | Rune Grammofon |
2008 | Jeff Gauthier | House of Return | Cryptogramophone |
2009 | 7 Worlds Collide | The Sun Came Out | Oxfam/Sony |
2009 | Bobb Bruno | Dreamt On | Vosotros |
2009 | Wadada Leo Smith | Spiritual Dimensions | Cuneiform |
2011 | Tinariwen | Tassili | V2 |
2011 | Jeff Gauthier | Open Source | Cryptogramophone |
2012 | Jherek Bischoff | Composed | Brassland |
2012 | Jherek Bischoff | Scores: Composed Instrumentals | Leaf |
2012 | Billy Bragg &Wilco | Mermaid Avenue Vol. III | Nonesuch |
2012 | Lee Ranaldo | Between the Times and the Tides | Matador |
2012 | Martha Wainwright | Come Home to Mama | Cooperative Music |
2012 | Rufus Wainwright | Out of the Game | Decca |
2013 | Ben Goldberg | Unfold Ordinary Mind | BAG |
2013 | Yoko Ono | Take Me to the Land of Hell | Chimera Music |
2013 | Retribution Gospel Choir | 3 | Chaperone |
2014 | Buffalo Daughter | Konjac-Tion | U/M/A/A |
2014 | Bobby Previte | Terminals | Cantaloupe Music |
2014 | Jim Keller | Heaven Can Wait | Elisha James/Orange Mountain |
2014 | Cibo Matto | Hotel Valentine | Chimera Music |
2014 | Medeski Martin & Wood | Woodstock Sessions Vol. 2 | Woodstock Sessions |
2015 | Adam Rudolph | Turning Towards the Light | Cuneiform |
2015 | Scott Amendola | Fade to Orange | Sazi |
2015 | Ben Goldberg | Orphic Machine | BAG |
2016 | Ornette Coleman | Celebrate Ornette | Song X |
2017 | Jim Campilongo | Live at Rockwood Music Hall NYC | Blue Hen |
2017 | Linda Perhacs | I'm A Harmony | Omnivore |
2017 | Lee Ranaldo | Electric Trim | Mute |
2018 | Harmony Rockets | Lachesis & Clotho & Atropos | Tompkins Square |
2018 | Michael Leonhart | The Painted Lady Suite | Sunnyside |
2018 | Bobby Previte | Rhapsody | RareNoise |
2018 | Chris Lightcap | Superette | Royal Potato Family |
2019 | Ben Goldberg | Good Day for Cloud Fishing | Pyroclastic |
2019 | Kris Davis | Diatom Ribbons | Pyroclastic |
2019 | Michael Leonhart | Suite Extracts Vol.1 | Sunnyside |
2019 | Larry Ochs | What Is to Be Done | Clean Feed |
2019 | Wayne Peet | What The? | pfMENTUM |
2019 | Chris Stamey | New Songs for the 20th Century | Omnivore |
2019 | Tedeschi Trucks Band | Beacon Bits 2019 | Nugs.net |
2020 | Bobby Previte | Music from the Early 21st Century | RareNoise |
2021 | Julius Hemphill | The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony | New World |
It was hearing Jimi Hendrix one afternoon on the AM radio, the song was Manic Depression. That was it. We were both literally jumping up and down and freaking out.