''Lovers'' is an album by guitarist

Nels Cline Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been the guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex Cline, Alex, a percussionis ...

which was released in August 2016 on the

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...

label. Cline stated " I hope ''Lovers'' offers something of an update of the 'mood music' idea and ideal, while celebrating and challenging our iconic notion of romance".

Reception

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

Will Hermes wrote "An update of Fifties "mood music", this chilled-out instrumental soundtracks for breakfast in bed with mai-tais and late-night booty calls, ''Lovers'' is a departure for Wilco guitar swami Nels Cline, whose side projects generally involve free-jazz freakouts. That's not to say that this wordless double-disc set, featuring an all-star orchestra full of sharp improvisers, isn't wildly inventive in its water-colored way".

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

's Seth Colter Walls rated the album 7.6 out of 10, saying, "Cline has delivered a chamber-orchestra set that’s notable for relying on some “Great American Songbook” standards by the likes of Jerome Kern and Rodgers & Hammerstein... The only task he doesn’t quite pull off is the composition of original themes that stand with the classics he’s selected. Almost half of the first CD is made up of Cline originals, and these pale a bit in comparison with the surrounding material. Though thanks to its sly and measured embrace of the experimental, ''Lovers'' still has all the originality it needs to endear".

Blurt Blurt is an English post-punk band, founded in 1979 in Stroud, Gloucestershire. Background Blurt was founded in 1979 in Stroud, Gloucestershire by poet, saxophonist and puppeteer Ted Milton along with Milton's brother Jake, formerly of p ...

correspondent Adolph Alzuphar noted: "Nels Cline’s Blue Note debut ''Lovers'' is a musical bonanza: guitar, the lyrical and the experimental. And it’s monumental when the album’s band lets loose".

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

reviewer Thom Jurek stated "Due to its extensive length and low-key demeanor, ''Lovers'' is demanding. That said, Cline's harmonic, textural, and timbral palettes deliver it as a compellingly engaging and original take on orchestral -- and by intent, conceptual -- jazz. He hears possibilities in the historical past and articulates them with timeless ardor. This may be Cline's quietest recording, but it is one of his finest". They also selected it as one of their Favorite Jazz Albums of 2016.Allmusic Favorite Jazz Albums of 2016
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Track listing

All compositions by Nels Cline except where noted.

Disc one

# "Introduction/Diaphanous" - 4:21 # "

Glad to Be Unhappy "Glad to Be Unhappy" is a popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart. It was introduced in their 1936 musical '' On Your Toes'', sung by Doris Carson and David Morris, although it was not popular at the time, as there wa ...

" (

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Both ...

) - 4:08 # " Beautiful Love" (

Wayne King Harold Wayne King (February 16, 1901 – July 16, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter, and bandleader with a long association with both NBC and CBS. He was referred to as "the Waltz King" because much of his most popular music involved wa ...

Victor Young Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899– November 10, 1956)"Victor Young, Composer, Dies of Heart Attack", ''Oakland Tribune'', November 12, 1956. was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. Biography Young is commonly said to ...

Egbert Van Alstyne Egbert Anson Van Alstyne (March 4, 1878 – July 9, 1951) was an American songwriter and pianist. Van Alstyne was the composer of a number of popular and ragtime tunes of the early 20th century. Biography Van Alstyne was born in Marengo, Il ...

Haven Gillespie James Lamont Gillespie (February 6, 1888 – March 14, 1975) pen name Haven Gillespie, was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist. He was the writer of "You Go to My Head", "Honey", "By the Sycamore Tree", "That Lucky Old Sun", " Breez ...

) - 3:59 # "Hairpin & Hatbox" - 3:32 # "Cry, Want" (

Jimmy Giuffre James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...

) - 6:54 # "Lady Gabor" (

Gábor Szabó Gábor István Szabó (March 8, 1936 – February 26, 1982) was a Hungarian American guitarist whose style incorporated jazz, pop, rock, and Hungarian music. Early years Szabó was born in Budapest, Hungary. He began playing guitar at the age ...

) - 8:27 # "The Bed We Made" - 3:25 # "You Noticed" - 4:01 # " Secret Love" (

Sammy Fain Sammy Fain (born Samuel E. Feinberg; June 17, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American composer of popular music. In the 1920s and early 1930s, he contributed numerous songs that form part of The Great American Songbook, and to Broadway theatre. ...

Paul Francis Webster Paul Francis Webster (December 20, 1907 – March 18, 1984) was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Original Song, and was nominated sixteen times for the award. Life and career Webster was born in New York City, United St ...

) - 4:30 # " I Have Dreamed" (Rodgers,

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight Ton ...

) - 2:39

Disc two

# "

Why Was I Born? "Why Was I Born?" is a 1929 song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was written for the show '' Sweet Adeline'' (1929) and introduced by Helen Morgan. Popular recordings in 1930 were by Helen Morgan and by ...

" (

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

, Hammerstein) - 5:02 # " Invitation" (

Bronisław Kaper Bronisław Kaper (; February 5, 1902 – April 26, 1983) was a Polish film composer who scored films and musical theater in Germany, France, and the USA. The American immigration authorities misspelled his name as Bronislau Kaper. He was also var ...

, Webster) - 2:26 # "It Only Has to Happen Once" (

Arto Lindsay Arthur Morgan "Arto" Lindsay (born May 28, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer, record producer and experimental composer. He was a member of the pioneering 1970s no wave group DNA, which featured on the 1978 compilation ''No New York''. In ...

, Peter Scherer) - 5:45 # "The Night Porter/Max, Mon Amour" (Daniele Paris/

Michel Portal Michel Portal (born 27 November 1935) is a French composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He plays both jazz and classical music and is considered to be "one of the architects of modern European jazz". Early life Portal was born in Bayonne on ...

) - 8:14 # "Snare, Girl" (

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

) - 6:35 # "So Hard It Hurts/Touching" (

Annette Peacock Annette Peacock is an American composer, musician, songwriter, producer, and arranger. She is a pioneer in electronic music who combined her voice with one of the first Moog synthesizers in the late 1960s. Biography Annette Peacock was writing ...

) - 6:54 # "The Search for Cat" (

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini, ; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flautist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Award ...

) - 2:34 # "The Bond" - 5:49

Personnel

– electric and acoustic guitars, lap steel, effects *

Michael Leonhart Michael Leonhart (born April 21, 1974) is an American jazz trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist. Solo career In 1992 Leonhart was honored with the first Grammy Award for outstanding high school musician in the US (he attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia ...

- trumpet, flugelhorn, cymbalon, celeste, arranger, conductor *

Devin Hoff Devin Hoff is an American bassist, composer and arranger. Hoff has collaborated with Julia Holter, Nels Cline, Sharon Van Etten, Shannon Lay, Cibo Matto, Kira Roessler, Good For Cows, Xiu Xiu, and others. Hoff has also released three albums of ...

- contrabass, bass guitar *

Alex Cline Alex Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American jazz drummer. Biography Born in Los Angeles, California, Cline began playing drums with his twin brother, guitarist Nels Cline, at the age of 11. Their first band was called Homogenized Goo and in ...

- drumset, percussion * Steven Bernstein - trumpet, slide trumpet, flugelhorn, alto horn * Taylor Haskins - trumpet, flugelhorn, valve trombone * Alan Ferber - trombone, bass trombone * Charles Pillow - C, alto, & bass flutes, oboe, English horn, alto saxophone, Bb clarinet *

J. D. Parran J. D. Parran is an American multi-woodwind player, educator, and composer specializing in jazz and free improvisation. He plays the soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass saxophone, as well as the E-flat clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, ...

- C, alto, & bass flutes, Bb clarinet, alto clarinet, baritone & bass saxophones *

Ben Goldberg Ben Goldberg is an American clarinet player and composer. Career In the early 1990s, Ben Goldberg performed alongside electric bassist Dan Seamans and percussionist Kenny Wollesen as the New Klezmer Trio. They went on to produce three albums an ...

- contra-alto clarinet, Bb clarinet * Douglas Wieselman - bass clarinet, Bb clarinet, tenor saxophone * Gavin Templeton - Bb clarinet, alto saxophone * Sara Schoenbeck - bassoon *

Julian Lage Julian Lage ( ; born December 25, 1987) is an American guitarist and composer. Career A child prodigy, Lage was the subject of the 1996 short documentary film ''Jules at Eight''. At 12, he performed at the 2000 Grammy Awards. Three years later ...

- acoustic and electric guitars *

Kenny Wollesen Kenny Wollesen (born 1966) is an American drummer and percussionist. Wollesen has recorded and toured with Tom Waits, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, John Lurie, Myra Melford, Steven Bernstein, and John Zorn. He is a foun ...

- vibraphone, marimba, percussion *

Zeena Parkins Zeena Parkins (born 1956) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp". Parkins performs on standard harp ...

- harp *

Yuka Honda Yuka Honda is a Japanese-American musician who resides in New York City. She is a multi-instrumentalist (mainly piano, synthesizer, sampler and other keyboards), composer, record producer, and co-founder of the band Cibo Matto. Throughout her c ...

- celeste, Juno 60 *

Antoine Silverman Antoine Silverman is a New York violinist, music contractor, and music arranger. The son of folk guitarist, writer and singer Jerry Silverman, Antoine began classical violin lessons at the age of three. By 5, he had discovered bluegrass as well, ac ...

- violin * Jeff Gauthier - violin * Amy Kimball - viola, violin * Stephanie Griffin - viola *

Erik Friedlander Erik Friedlander is an American cellist and composer based in New York City. A veteran of New York City's experimental downtown scene, Friedlander has worked in many contexts, but is perhaps best known for his frequent collaborations with sax ...

- cello * Maggie Parkins - cello

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums Nels Cline albums Blue Note Records albums