ENDEIT
Nels Cline
Photo: neonwar, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Guitarists · b. 1956

Nels Cline

American guitarist and composer

Born
4 January 1956
Los Angeles
Country
United States
Active
1977–
Record labels
Cryptogramophone Records
Discography
25 albums

Biography

Nels Cline is a jazz musician who plays guitar. Nels Cline was born on 4 January 1956 in Los Angeles. The music is usually filed under jazz and indie rock. Record labels: Cryptogramophone Records. The discography here lists 25 albums, from “Elegies” (1981) to “Consentrik Quartet” (2025).

Nels Courtney Cline (born January 4, 1956) is an American guitarist and composer. He has been a guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004. In the 1980s he played jazz, often in collaboration with his twin brother Alex, a percussionist. He has worked with musicians in punk and alternative rock such as Carla Bozulich and the Geraldine Fibbers, Mike Watt and Thurston Moore. He leads the Nels Cline Singers, Nels Cline Trio, and the Nels Cline 4. Cline was named the 82nd greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in November 2011.

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Discography

Studio and live albums

Elegies 1981 · Nine Winds Records Angelica 1988 · enja
Rhino Westwood In-Store 12/30/96 1996 · Live
Pillow Wand 1997 · Little Brother Records Edible Flowers 1998 · WIN Records Rise Pumpkin Rise 1998 · Volvolo Records Interstellar Space Revisted: The Music of John Coltrane 1999 · Atavistic The Inkling 2000 · Cryptogramophone Destroy All Nels Cline 2001 · Atavistic Ash and Tabula. Out Trios Volume Three 2004 · Atavistic Buried on Bunker Hill 2004 · Ground Fault Recordings
Graduation 2004 · free103point9
The Entire Time 2004
Immolation/Immersion 2005 · Strange Attractors Audio House New Monastery: A View into the Music of Andrew Hill 2006 · Cryptogramophone Downpour 2007 · Les Disques Victo
Nothing Makes Any Sense 2007 · Live
Coward 2009 · Cryptogramophone DIRTY BABY 2010 · Cryptogramophone Jazz Free 2012 · There Records Open the Door 2012 · Public Eyesore Room 2014 · Mack Avenue Records
Accidental Sky 2015
Lovers 2016 · Blue Note Consentrik Quartet 2025 · Blue Note

Also plays on

Albums where Nels Cline is credited as a sideman

1980 Empire [2] - 7x — Tim Berne guitar, Hawaiian guitar, 12 string guitar
1998 Yo, Miles! — Henry Kaiser & Wadada Leo Smith electric guitar
2014 The Woodstock Sessions, Vol. 2 — Medeski Martin & Wood + Nels Cline guitar
2019 Quartet (New Haven) 2014 — Anthony Braxton electric guitar

Listen on Spotify

Frequently asked questions

What instrument does Nels Cline play?

Nels Cline is known for playing guitar.

When and where was Nels Cline born?

Nels Cline was born 4 January 1956 in Los Angeles.

What are Nels Cline's best-known albums?

Albums in our database include Elegies (1981), Angelica (1988), Pillow Wand (1997), Edible Flowers (1998) and Rise Pumpkin Rise (1998).

External links

Data compiled from open sources; see the source links below. Spotted an error? Let us know.