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Re: nels cline
I've known Nels since about the time I moved to L.A. in 1986. After
hearing
a lot about him, I saw him play solo opening for Bill Frisell and Henry
Kaiser at McCabe's in Santa Monica. I was immediately very impressed - he
did a solo version of "War Orphans" by Ornette Coleman which I still have
a
pretty vivid recollection of, which is REALLY saying something. After
seeking out a few other gigs I got to know him a bit and he acted as a bit
of
a mentor to me (totally unintentionally, I'm sure), introducing me to lots
of
players and throwing a few gigs my way he was unable or unwilling to do.
He's really a phenomenal player, very imaginative and unique. One other
thing that's always impressed me about him is I've never seen him play
where
anything was glib or "phoned-in", it's always totally focused and present
(at
least that's how it sounds to me). I'd highly recommmend any of the trio
CD's, they're really great, plus I know he'll be touring sometime coming
up
(if hasn't left already) with Mark Isham's Miles Davis tribute thang.
Ken R