Nels Cline: Lovers (for Philadelphia), JAZZ NIGHT IN AMERICA

Nels Cline has earned his place as a guitar hero for our times, with a track record stretching back four decades and a marquee gig with Wilco. But if you mainly associate him with squalls of feedback, youre missing a big part of the picture. Hear the radio episode: by NATE CHINEN Nels Cline has earned his place as a guitar hero for our times, with a track record stretching back four decades and a marquee gig with Wilco. But if you mainly associate him with squalls of feedback, you re missing a big part of the picture. The Avant Romantic is how Rolling Stone pegged him about a decade ago, in its list of Top 20 New Guitar Gods. And lately, Cline has been focusing his efforts, without pause or irony, on the romantic part of that equation. Lovers, released on Blue Note in 2016, was Clines fond reclamation of mood music albums from midcentury, with his guitar in an earnest melodic role.