The Jazzcat

Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA is proud to present guitar explorer Nels Cline, best known as the lead guitarist in the rock band Wilco, in the live West Coast debut of Music from Lovers, plus instrumental trio Big Lazy at Royce Hall. Tickets ($29–$59) for Saturday, April 8 at 8 p.m. are currently on sale at cap.ucla.edu, via Ticketmaster and at the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310.825.2101.

Cline will perform wide-ranging material from his expansive new Blue Note double-album, Lovers, backed by a 17-piece band comprised of some of his most gifted collaborators, including conductor-trumpeter Michael Leonhart, guitarist Julian Lage and trumpeter Steven Bernstein.

NELS CLINE – electric guitar GLEN BERGER – C, alto & bass flutes, oboe, English horn, alto sax, Bb clarinet STEVEN BERNSTEIN – trumpet ALEX CLINE – drums DAN CLUCAS – trumpet MICHAEL DESSEN – trombone BRAD DUTZ – vibraphone, marimba, percussion JEFF GAUTHIER – violin BEN GOLDBERG – contra-alto clarinet, Bb clarinet VINNY GOLIA – woodwinds DEVIN HOFF – bass  YUKA C HONDA – celeste, synth JULIAN LAGE – electric & acoustic guitar, Dobro MICHAEL LEONHART – conductor, trumpet, flugelhorn ZEENA PARKINS – harp MAGGIE PARKINS – cello SARA SCHOENBECK – bassoon GAVIN TEMPLETON – Bb clarinet

Inspired by the likes of Bill Evans, Jim Hall, Gil Evans, Johnny Mandel, Henry Mancini and others, Lovers features Cline performing originals, standards and covering Sonic Youth, Arto Lindsay and others with a large ensemble. “I have been dreaming about, planning, and re-working my rather obsessive idea of this record for well over 25 years, and it was always going to be called Lovers,” says Cline. “It is meant to be as personal in its sound and in its song selection as it is universal in its endeavor to assay or map the parameters of ‘mood’ as it once pertained, and currently pertains, to the peculiar and powerful connection between sound/song and intimacy/romance. In this, I hope Lovers offers something of an update of the ‘mood music’ idea and ideal, while celebrating and challenging our iconic notion of romance.”

Cline was named by Rolling Stone as one of 20 “new guitar gods” and among the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.” His recording and performing career — spanning jazz, rock, punk and experimental genres — is well into its fourth decade. Cline has led various groups of his own, most consistently the avant-garde ensemble the Nels Cline Singers, and appeared as a guest or feature player on more than 200 albums. In addition, for the last dozen years, he’s been a full-time member of the acclaimed rock band Wilco.

The evening opens with Big Lazy, hailed by the New Yorker as “the elegantly gritty instrumental trio led by the extraordinary guitarist Stephen Ulrich.” Simultaneously noir and pastoral, gothic and modern, Big Lazy conjures images of everything from big sky country to seedy back rooms. With sparse instrumentation — electric guitar, acoustic bass and drums — the trio creates richly evocative soundscapes with a distinctly narrative quality and an undeniable sense of place. The band is back supporting a new album, Don’t Cross Myrtle, after a hiatus of several years while leader Stephen Ulrich spent time as the composer for the HBO series Bored to Death and most recently the film Art and Craft.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets for Saturday, April 8 at 8 p.m. are currently on sale at cap.ucla.edu, all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 310.825.2101 or in person at the UCLA Central Ticket Office on campus. $15 UCLA Student tickets and $25 UCLA Faculty and Staff tickets are available while supplies last.

Tickets: Admission ranges from $29-$59; UCLA Students $15; UCLA Faculty & Staff $25.  Tickets can be purchased online at cap.ucla.edu, via Ticketmaster, by phone at 310.825.2101 or in person at the UCLA Central Ticket Office. On the day of the show, the box office at Royce Hall opens one hour prior to the event start time.