Nels Cline - New Monastery

[GA Russell]

I received in the mail today an advance copy of the new album by guitarist Nels Cline called New Monastery, which is Cline's interpretation of the music of Andrew Hill.

The band is:

Bobby Bradford, cornet

Ben Goldberg, clarinets

Andrea Parkins, accordion

Devin Hoff, contrabass

Scott Amendola, drums

Nels Cline, guitar

Alex Cline, percussion

The songs are:

McNeill Island/Pumpkin

Not Sa No Sa

No Doubt/11/8/Dance With Death

Yokada Yokada/The Rumproller

Dedication

Reconciliation/New Monastery

Compulsion

You will note that the band doesn't include a piano!

I haven't listened to it yet. I'm going to be spending the week on the road, so I'll plan to give it plenty of listens in the car and the motel room, and I'll report when I get back next weekend.

This is on the Cryptogramophone label, so I expect that it will be available from eMusic, as well as CD Universe at a pre-order price. The relase date is set for Sept. 26.

[Aggie87]

Glad to see this coming out. We talked about it earlier this year. Definitely one to pick up!

[ep1str0phy]

Nice to see that the live group wound up in the studio. Looking forward to this one--a lot.

[Guest akanalog]

cool. how did you get an advanced copy?

[.:.impossible]

I think this recording has great potential. I am looking forward to hearing it.

[Guest akanalog]

no answer to my question?

[Guest akanalog]

i guess what i am getting at is that your way of getting promo discs is really fucking lame.

i wil stop causing trouble now.

[Guest akanalog]

but actually i don't really know but i am drawing some conclusions from your posts.

[Aggie87]

Perhaps it's a review copy, and GA is a reviewer for some publication/website etc?

Isn't that who pretty much all of the promo discs are sent out early to? I'm confused as to what is upsetting you.

[Guest akanalog]

yeah it is probably a review copy.

but reviewed for who?

[GA Russell]

Guys, I said I would be away for a few days this week! Give me a chance to respond!

I used to review CDs for AAJ, and I got on the mailing lists of a number of labels, mostly small, some big like Fantasy and Concord. They know that I no longer review for AAJ, but they send me things from time to time to talk about here.

Now on to the record...I've had the chance to listen to it for the past two days, and I like it. But I should tell you that it doesn't remind me of the little Andrew Hill I know. I have Point of Departure which has never done much for me but I listen to it a couple of times a year.

I know that many of us here are big Andrew Hill fans, and those who are may recognize all the songs on this album and enjoy the different takes on the melodies.

But maybe not. As I say, this doesn't remind me of Andrew Hill and the Blue Note sound. This reminds me of what Fred Frith was doing thirty years ago with people like Henry Cow, The Art Bears and Slapp Happy. I was a big Fred Frith fan back in the day, and I saw him in concert with Skeleton Crew with Zina Parkin in Atlanta back in '85.

So if you don't like Fred Frith, I don't think you are going to like this Nels Cline either. But since so many here are such big fans of Andrew Hill, I recommend you give it a listen to see what Cline has done to the music.

[Guest akanalog]

so you get labels to send you free stuff so you can mention it on the organissimo board?

that was my first time using smilies. that was awesome!

[GA Russell]

Yes, they understand that if I don't like something I'm going to pan it. But my contacts know what I like and usually don't send me stuff that I'm going to pan.

[Guest akanalog]

but one could say that you are using the organissimo name to get free CDs for yourself?

i mean "your contacts" - the people at the various labels and PR places you contact - are sending you CDs just so you write a small blurb about them on a small messageboard? i imagine larger labels aren't really interested in taking part in this program when you contact them with this proposal.

it sort of also makes you a spammer but not really i guess.

[Aggie87]

but one could say that you are using the organissimo name to get free CDs for yourself?

i mean "your contacts" - the people at the various labels and PR places you contact - are sending you CDs just so you write a small blurb about them on a small messageboard? i imagine larger labels aren't really interested in taking part in this program when you contact them with this proposal.

it sort of also makes you a spammer but not really i guess.

I don't get why you're coming down on GA for receiving review copies legitimately from his sources. Isn't that between him and the labels? What business is it of ours? Review copies go out all over to reviewers.

And you (like me) are using the organissimo board to offer your used CDs for sale/trade to other board members, so aren't you "using" the organissimo name for your benefit as well?

[Guy Berger]

but one could say that you are using the organissimo name to get free CDs for yourself?

i mean "your contacts" - the people at the various labels and PR places you contact - are sending you CDs just so you write a small blurb about them on a small messageboard? i imagine larger labels aren't really interested in taking part in this program when you contact them with this proposal.

Well, for smaller labels promotion on this kind of bulletin board might actually make a meaningful difference. I admit I'm not sure why Concord is pursuing this strategy, however.

I'm not sure why you are coming down on GA. Sounds like he has a pretty good deal. Any labels that wish to send me free music so that I can promote it on this board if I like it are encouraged to PM me.

Guy

[GA Russell]

Here are the album's liner notes:

Perhaps it will be a letdown for me to say this, but this is not a “tribute record” in the conventional sense. It is not intended as a definitive sampling of the works of a genuine original, Mr. Andrew Hill. There may even be wrong or strange notes here and there. I transcribed everything from the recordings before arranging it, and I’m no wizard!

On seperate occasions, Andrea Parkins and Ben Goldberg had been guests with my regular trio, The Nels Cline Singers (with Devin Hoff and Scott Amendola). Andrea had played with us in Los Angeles, lending her wild and woolly accordion to the occasion, heightening the mayhem. Ben played with us in Berkeley on a more low-key affair, and the set included pieces by Jimmy Giuffre, Carla Bley, and Thelonius Monk, as well as some by me. It occurred to me that an ensemble with The Singers plus Andrea and Ben would be of interest, and I immediately began scheming to play music with them that was not written by me, but rather written by someone among us today, still working and growing and perhaps under-appreciated, whose music was flexible and varied enough to allow us latitude to explore it and be OURSELVES. It took about 3 or 4 seconds for me to come up with that composer’s name: Andrew Hill. As I studied the music with this in mind, I realized that I needed a brass player. I called Bobby Bradford, an old friend and inspiration, and I was delighted that he was excited about the project. Bobby and I had played together on and off for years, but had never had an opportunity to record together. So a sextet, albeit a slightly odd one, would do our take on Andrew Hill music - not attempting to be in any way definitive, nor to recreate classic sessions. It is a view - ONE VIEW - into the music of Andrew Hill.

Mr. Hill, whom I had met briefly while playing at the jazz festival in Skopje, Macedonia with Gregg Bendian’s Interzone back in 1997, is a delightful man to meet, but crucially he is an artist whose music has continued to change and expand its parameters, becoming freer than the early, classic Blue Note sessions. Mr. Hill’s music has always been unpredictable, perhaps a bit knotty, always forward-looking and beautiful. And, as I was to learn, he had managed to be quite under-the-radar for any but the most ardent jazz-o-phile. It would be a great feeling to send a little energy from the younger listeners his way. Some of his pieces, like “No Doubt” and “McNeil Island” attempted here, are like chamber works and have rarely (if ever) been covered by anyone else. Others are more recent, like “Not Sa No Sa”, which, though whimsical at times, is episodic - an aspect of Mr. Hill’s composing that began as early as the piece “Spectrum” on the classic album “Point of Departure”.

It was important to me that this record at least allude to Andrew Hill’s total oeuvre - there are so many compositions that it would be impossible to do otherwise! But the reason for this is to point to ALL the work, work still being produced, work that is open and part of a living tradition. With these points in mind, I decided to play a lot of the pieces as suites. It seemed like a natural way for the group to play, it reflected the methodology of a lot of Mr. Hill’s music, and it enabled me to squeeze more music into this document. I endeavored also to vary the tone or mood of the repetoire. Andrew Hill’s music touches on almost every musical mood or sensation. To “Yokada Yokada” I rather slyly added the “The Rumproller” just to be fun, to have fun with the material. In other areas, darkness may descend, or it may just be time to jam out! Also, with the exception of “Dedication” and “Yokada Yokada/The Rumproller”, we generally eschewed playing on “changes”, instead favoring a free approach. This is not only how we all tend to play naturally, but it is also the approach that Andrew Hill’s music has favored for many decades now. My brother Alex was brought in to supply the percussion drive and color needed for the turbulent “Compulsion” - one of my personal favorite Hill pieces, here given an almost apocalyptic treatment - and he stayed for “Dedication.”

There were things that I did not know before embarking on this project. I did not know that Mr. Hill was about to enjoy a resurgence of sorts, once again recording for the Blue Note label. Great news! I didn’t know that Mr. Hill is seriously ill, fighting cancer. Terrible news! Smaller items: I learned that Ben Goldberg had played with Mr. Hill and that he loves this music. I learned that accordion was Andrew’s first instrument! But with all these rather charged revelations floating around, I hope that the real revelation will simply be the music itself: Andrew Hill music. We can approach it, twist it a bit, look into it, try it out, find beauty and inspiration, find OURSELVES as well as the genius who created it in the first place. Right?

Thanks to all the musicians for making this concept a reality as well as a beautiful experience. This record could not have happened without the enthusiastic support of my good friend Jeff Gauthier. As usual, he is THE MAN. Thanks also to Michael Cuscuna, who proved a valuable source for information and impressions, and who was always amazingly approachable in musical and in business-related matters. Thanks also to Rich Breen, Bob Hurwitz, Ron Horton, Marty Ehrlich, Paul “Junior” Garrison, Adam Rosenkrantz, Los Wilcos y Compadres, the Crypto clan, kind listeners and gentle comrades everywhere.

Special thanks to the visionary artistry of Mr. Andrew Hill. Long may he create and inspire. - N.C. 6/13/06

[bertrand]

I asked Andrew about 'The Rumproller' a couple of years ago.

It was not written specifically for Lee's record. Andrew and his group were rehearsing it for one of Andrew's dates, and Alfred Lion heard it and thought it would be better on a Morgan record.

So which Andrew Hill date?

The Rumproller is from 4/21/65

Pax is 2/10/65

Dialogue is 4/3/65

Compulsion is 10/8/65

I guess it must have been Dialogue - I'm not sure if Andrew said he was the leader or not.

Bertrand.

[clifford_thornton]

AK, I'm not sure I'm with ya on this one - I get more promos than I know what to do with (less now that I write less), and only some of these are reviewed at sites like AAJ/Paris Transatlantic/Bagatellen/etc. Most of these are advance, though it's not always the case. The Organissimo board is pretty much the main newsgroup for jazz of all stripes, and it does make some sense to have a few people trumpeting new releases or upcoming ones here. As long as that person is a legitimate member of the newsgroup, it's not really spamming. For me, I think it's been pretty helpful to have this kind of "heads up." And hey, I'm not even that into Andrew Hill OR Nels Cline...

[Guest akanalog]

that's ok if peple disagree i just feel that if anyone should be getting free stuff thanks to the organissimo board, it is the band members. and if they want to pimp the stuff, that is their perogative. i don't think anyone but those guys should be getting promo stuff in the name of hyping it on this board. there is a difference between getting free stuff for whatever reason and happening to discuss it on here or getting the free stuff under the auspices of writing about it on here. at least to me.

and i do sell some of my old discs, but there is a section of the board for that kind of thing and i keep it in there. i don't see a forums called "pimping and hyping", because that is where i feel these kind of threads belong.

[BFrank]

FWIW, this album has just been added to the eMusic catalog.

[AllenLowe]

I'm quite curious about this release - I liked Cline's Coltrane CD, did not like him when I heard him in person (dull, repetitious, but let's not start trhat fight again) - I've recorded with Ben Goldberg, who plays great but does not really have a harmonic conception in the way that I hear Hill - doesn't mean he can't make something of it, but I'm very curious as to how organically they approach the music - in other words, not just theme and free, but something that creates an interesting frame of reference consistent with the feeling of Hill's music -

Edited September 13, 2006 by AllenLowe

[jazzbo]

Well, I just listened to this through once. Don't look for consistency here. . . it's all over the map to my ears. . . and that's likely a good thing. Doesn't sound like any of Hill's interpretations. Nice use of trumpet and bass clarinet and all kinds of textures. Some parts even swing some. Interesting release and one I'll have to hear more to really "get deep into."

[md655321]

I'm quite curious about this release - I liked Cline's Coltrane CD,

You do? Thats great to hear after the whole Nels Cline hullabaloo awhile back. He is quite adventurous, so he does indeed sometimes miss the target. But when he hits, its fantastic.

[ep1str0phy]

I'm quite curious about this release - I liked Cline's Coltrane CD, did not like him when I heard him in person (dull, repetitious, but let's not start trhat fight again) - I've recorded with Ben Goldberg, who plays great but does not really have a harmonic conception in the way that I hear Hill - doesn't mean he can't make something of it, but I'm very curious as to how organically they approach the music - in other words, not just theme and free, but something that creates an interesting frame of reference consistent with the feeling of Hill's music -

I'm not entirely sure that the cast here assembled is of the sort that would (perhaps could) attack Hill's music with the level of harmonic intricacy and exactitude found in Andrew's personal interpretations. Having seen and been taught by a few of these individuals in various contexts, I'm interested in hearing what they would produce, using Hill's material as a springboard. We've had straighter interpretations of Hill's music before, anyway (such as the Braxton albums on CIMP). Regardless, every time I've heard someone approach Hill's music with a more or less repertory faithfulness without the maestro in the driver's seat, I've felt something lacking.

Edited September 13, 2006 by ep1str0phy