Nels Cline • LOVERS

“I have been dreaming about, planning, and re-working my rather obsessive idea of this record for well over twenty-five years, and it was always going to be called Lovers. 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.” — Nels Cline

Guitar polymath Nels Cline (of Wilco, CUP, and more) will present his stunning large ensemble opus, Lovers, with the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra and special guests soloists at Big Ears this year. This work has only been performed live a handful of times since its release in 2016…

Lovers is a massive undertaking, decades in the works with the desire to update “mood music,” and Cline has crafted a collection of tunes worthy of this magnitude. The record and performance at Big Ears with 17-person ensemble will include originals by Cline along with renditions of love songs by a wild assortment of composers ranging from Rogers & Hammerstein to Hungarian gypsy jazz guitarist Gabor Szabo, the enigmatic Annette Peacock, and Big Ears 2018 artist Arto Lindsay…to name a few.  

Guest artists joining the KJO will include Michael Leonhart (conductor, trumpet, flugelhorn), Alex Cline (drums), Devin Hoff (bass), Yuka C. Honda (celeste, synth) and Jenny Scheinman (violin).

Check out the video for “‘Glad to be Unhappy” from Lovers, and discover more info including track listing here. At Big Ears, Nels Cline will also perform as a member of Jenny Scheinman’s ensemble “Mischief & Mayhem”