TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. Guitarist Nels Cline is one of the most versatile players on the music scene today. He's a heavyweight among indie rockers and well known in both mainstream and avant-garde jazz circles. But he's probably best known as a member of Wilco. He joined that band 20 years ago, and he's continued to add muscular grit and keening depth to the band's sound. Cline's new recording is named after his new group, Consentrik Quartet. But in many ways, the new album sounds like a retrospective of Cline's diverse musical activities. Guest critic Martin Johnson has this review.
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MARTIN JOHNSON, BYLINE: Nels Cline first made his mark on the Los Angeles scene in the '80s, often in groups alongside his twin brother, Alex, a percussionist. They played in a variety of jazz as well as indie rock bands. This sort of dual-genre life is mirrored in Cline's involvement in jazz, where he's played in almost every subgenre imaginable, from raucous, skronky free jazz to lush romantic takes on the classic American Songbook on his 2016 release "Lovers." The Consentrik Quartet is capable of starting out hummable, as they do on "Surplus," and rising toward a spectacular fury.
(SOUNDBITE OF NELS CLINE'S "SURPLUS")
JOHNSON: This is brawny music at times. Some of it harkens back to the '80s and the sort of free jazz fusion combos. And at times, there are passages that are reminiscent of the growing range of heavy metal jazz blends on the scene today. Cline founded the group for an improvised jam in Brooklyn six years ago, but then he began writing for them, especially during the lockdowns, when he felt enveloped by silence. And that's a key to the quartet's range. Moments of delicate austerity alternate with bold, provocative sections as they do here on the aptly named "Slipping Into Something."
(SOUNDBITE OF NELS CLINE'S "SLIPPING INTO SOMETHING")
JOHNSON: Since moving to New York in 2009, Cline has played with bassist Chris Lightcap and drummer Tom Rainey in multiple formats, most notably in Lightcap's outstanding group, Superette. For "Consentrik Quartet," he added saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, another stalwart of the New York scene. Their unisons over Lightcap's snorting bass and Rainey's furious drumming generate a big, bright, energetic sound, which makes their quieter segments feel dark and affecting. That's the sequence on "Satomi," which was named for Satomi Matsuzaki, the bassist and singer for Deerhoof, an indie rock powerhouse. It was written for her family drama during the pandemic, when she had to fly back and forth between her native Japan and the United States.
(SOUNDBITE OF CONSENTRIK QUARTET'S "SATOMI")
JOHNSON: Cline sometimes chooses wry names for his bands. For instance, his group The Nels Cline Singers has no vocalist, and they play abstract brooding music that even Bjork might be hard-pressed to vocalize. But the Consentrik Quartet is more straightforward. He considers the playing and the building of solos between his bandmates to be a series of concentric circles. However, he chose the Middle English spelling consent-R-I-K because he liked it better.
(SOUNDBITE OF CONSENTRIK QUARTET'S "THE BAG")
JOHNSON: It's hard to say why this particular lineup - guitar, saxophone, bass and drums - hasn't become more commonplace. There was the John Scofield, Joe Lovano bands of the '80s and, more recently, ensembles featuring saxophonist Walter Smith III and guitarist Matthew Stevens. As happens in this group, the joyous roar of Cline's guitar pairs nicely with the pithy wail of Laubrock's saxophone. When joined by the grooves of Lightcap's bass and Rainey's drums, it feels like a new-millennium version of hard bop. The music of the Consentrik Quartet suggests that there is a wealth of sonic ground to explore here, no matter how you spell the band's name.
(SOUNDBITE OF CONSENTRIK QUARTET'S "DOWN CLOSE")
MOSLEY: Guest jazz critic Martin Johnson writes about jazz for The Wall Street Journal and DownBeat. He reviewed the new album by Nels Cline called "Consentrik Quartet."
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MOSLEY: Tomorrow on FRESH AIR, Terry Gross pays tribute to her late husband, Grammy Award-winning jazz critic Francis Davis, who died on April 14. Terry is going to talk about him, read excerpts of his award-winning writing, and play some of the music he wrote about. I hope you can join us.
To keep up with what's on the show and get highlights of our interviews, follow us on Instagram - @nprfreshair. FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our managing producer is Sam Briger. Our senior producer today is Therese Madden. Roberta Shorrock directs the show. With Terry Gross, I'm Tonya Mosley.
(SOUNDBITE OF MILES DAVIS' "BLUE IN GREEN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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