Nels Cline: New Monastery

CML call number: CD JAZZ Cline
Nate Chinen wrote in the New York Times: "The pianist Andrew Hill makes music of deep reflection and patient discovery. For most of his long career he has stayed faithful to a mode of abstraction steeped in his own preoccupations: enigmatic harmony, elasticized rhythm, a multilayered arrangement of texture and pulse. When he plays his own compositions — and he rarely plays anything else — he can create the impression of elusive and flickering beauty. In a lunch-hour concert on Thursday at Trinity Church, Mr. Hill developed that feeling into an enveloping sensation. … The haunting depth of that performance was a reminder of why other musicians rarely try to play Mr. Hill’s music. One noteworthy exception is the guitarist Nels Cline, who released an excellent album last year called 'New Monastery: A View Into the Music of Andrew Hill.' … Mr. Cline happened to be booked at the Jazz Standard on Thursday night, and his six-piece group sounded fierce. Mr. Cline is a resourceful improviser with a strong connection to experimental rock, and he brings a radiant, noisy extroversion to Mr. Hill’s music" (3/31/07).