Album songs：
Album Intro：
Nearly 10 years into leading the winkingly named instrumental trio the Nels Cline Singers, it's hard to imagine what fringe of jazz and improvised rock could be unearthed next by the local guitar hero who joined the boundary-pushing band Wilco in 2004.
Now with their fourth album, Cline and a taut but feral rhythm section of bassist Devin Hoff and drummer Scott Amendola have regrouped for an often-breathtaking recording that's also their most rewarding and immediately approachable listen.
A sprawling double album split between one disc of studio recordings and a bare-knuckled live set, 'Initiate' is steeped in the worldbeat-dusted jazz-rock of the 70s. Opening with a swirling chorus of electronic effects, they land a bracing first shot with 'Floored,' which finds Cline flexing a guitar tone akin to the warped keyboards of Chick Corea's work in Miles Davis' electric period while Amendola and Hoff lay down a concrete-busting funk-rock groove. 'King Queen' forges a sort of psychedelic take on Cuban jazz as Cline and guest organist David Witham ride Hoff's elliptical bassline, building an insistent melody that opens to the outer limits.
They also show a more delicate side with 'Divining' and 'Zingiber' -- tracks featuring an atmospheric chorus of actual singing from the trio -- but with the second disc the group lays on the throttle and seldom lets up. Highlighted by a blistering, 14-minute cover of Weather Report's 'Boogie Woogie Waltz' (featuring members of San Francisco indie band Deerhoof), they course through fiery improvisations while also nodding toward jazz tradition with a cover of Carla Bley's 'And Now, the Queen' and a Jim Hall-dedicated version of the Singers' comparatively straightforward 'Blues, Too.'
Engrossing and ceaselessly inventive, 'Initiate' isn't always easy listening, but it's essential for lovers of jazz and its fertile frontier. --LA Times
It s easy to focus on Nels Cline s jack-of-all-trades work ethic, but what really makes the guitarist so significant is the consistency he brings to all these projects: a singular voice that occasionally goes heavy on the effects pedals, but uses them to create an astounding sonic vocabulary whether he s playing straight rock music, jazz or, more typically, something in between.
On 2007 s Draw Breath, the Singers (Cline, bassist Devin Hoff and drummer Scott Amendola) bridged the unforeseen gap between wild jazz improvisation and California punk-rock shredding. Today, when the Singers charge up, a musical touchstone could be progressive rockers King Crimson, circa 1975 s Red, where fuzzed out clatter could maintain melodic sense before it suddenly shifted to quiet ambience. The double-CD Initiate features one studio disc and one live disc, each revealing the trio s alternating abilities to mow down listeners with brute force or gently sooth. The electric funk of Floored, at the front of the studio disc, has a vamp like 70s Miles Davis, but Cline s solo would send the trumpeter running for cover. Before this set finishes he evokes Pete Cosey or John McLaughlin, and on this cut Cline dispenses his sonic tempest over a vamp that stops abruptly enough to prove this isn t merely a jam. Later on, a gentle bass vehicle ( You Noticed ) and semi-romantic melody ( Zingiber ) lead to Mercy (Procession), which sounds like its subtitle, with tension building as Amendola rattles all over his kit. The disc makes unpredictable shifts in volume, adding to the excitement of the program.
On the live disc, duality is on display too. After Raze sears the skin with vicious power chords and some equally toxic free improv, Cline shifts gears and turns in a beautiful version of Carla Bley s And Now the Queen, a loping ballad that hasn t been recorded since Paul Bley cut it for 1993 s Homage to Carla. He follows that with Blues, Too, an homage to Jim Hall, which evokes its subject with a clean tone and lean lines before Hoff and Amendola go on a cat-and-mouse chase and Cline breaks free for some chordal strumming. The disc s cornerstone comes with the version of Joe Zawinul s Boogie Woogie Waltz. For 14 minutes, Cline charts the past, present and future of jazz guitar, returning to the electric Miles bag, imitating a broken tape machine and conjuring Jimi Hendrix. If this all sounds like a bit too much, then listen in small doses at first, to make sure that none of the significant parts are missed. There are plenty of them. --Jazz Times
Guitarist Nels Cline has generated a high profile since becoming a member of Wilco, but it s his solo work that defines him -- he can always be counted upon to thwart expectations. Initiate is the fourth album by the Nels Cline Singers, a power trio with Devin Hoff on contra and electric bass, and Scott Amendola on drums, percussion, and electronics. Initiate is a double-disc recorded by rock producer/engineer Ron Saint Germain. The first disc is a studio recording, the latter was cut live in San Francisco in 2009. Disc one's second track, Floored, kicks off with Amendola's drum kit followed by an exploratory fusion funk groove with Cline moving angularly around Hoff s electric bass (think Tony Williams Lifetime). Divining is a hallucinatory track that commences acoustically with mbiras and double bass before Cline's acoustic enters. It gradually mutates texturally and dynamically to become an open-ended electric jazz-cum-world music orgy, as wordless vocals and layers of percussion move it toward a far freakier geography -- it's a more dangerous-sounding exploration of terrain that Pat Metheny is familiar with. Grow Closer mutates around various Latin tropes and rhythmic patterns occasionally drifting into North African modes. King Queen explores the early Santana band s ability to jam around a theme with killer organ by guest David Witham. Cline responds aggressively and imaginatively to the band's shapeshifting, hypnotic rhythms.
Whereas disc one changes moods and directions with studied perfection, disc two enters dissonant rock and jazz terrain from the jump. Fly Fly begins as a swinging jazz tune that quickly evolves into a sick, twisted, guitar trio freakout that nearly lifts off. Raze is molten hard rock, with feedback, squall, and scree allowed nearly free rein. Blues Too is an homage to Jim Hall that employs his wide harmonic sense while speaking with Cline s knottier, more complex melodic interests. There s a beautifully rendered cover of Carla Bley's And Now the Queen and a new reading of Thurston County (off 2008 s Coward). This live disc is far more satisfying for its wide-ranging sonic expeditions and spiraling architectural drama. The disc closes with a smoking version of Joe Zawinul's 125th Street Congress -- from Weather Report's underrated Sweetnighter LP. At over 14 minutes, it takes its time developing the tune s spooky groove, but with electric guitar, acoustic bass, and drum kit, it goes further afield; it transcends harmonic constraints while exploiting its rhythmic barrier to the breaking point. It sounds like Jimi Hendrix fronting WR. Arguably, Initiate is the most fully realized project Cline has devoted himself to yet, and extends the musical frontiers the Singers are capable of not only engaging, but conquering. --All Music Guide
1. Into It
2. Floored
3. Divining
4. You Noticed
5. Red Line to Greenland
6. Mercy (Supplication)
7. Grow Closer
8. Scissor / Saw
9. B86 (Inkblot Nebula)
10. King Queen
11. Zingiber
12. Mercy (Procession)
13. Into It (You Turn)
14. Forge (Live)
15. Fly Fly (Live)
16. Raze (Live)
17. And Now the Queen (Live)
18. Blues, Too (Live)
19. Thurston County (Live)
20. Sunken Song (Live)
21. Boogie Woogie Waltz (Live)
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