Cryptogramophone

Nels Cline might be more known as the resident guitar god for Wilco these days by the hipster masses. But for an elite few who remember past his work with Chicago’s finest, he is still widely regarded first and foremost as the fearless leader of modern jazz guitar, an attribute that is on full display with the release of this whirlwind live album from his latest project BB&C alongside longtime contemporaries Tim Berne on alto sax and drummer Jim Black.

Culled from a pair of blistering sets at John Zorn’s The Stone on one of the hottest days in the summer of 2010, The Veil is a rapturous performance from three of New York City’s most electrifying talents at the last vestige for improvisational music left standing in Manhattan following the Blue Condo-ization of the Lower East Side. Across the span of nine tracks and one hour, Berne, Black and Cline lay waste to a jam-packed crowd that included the likes of Cibo Matto’s Yuka Honda and legendary punk bassist Mike Watt (both of whom are in the group Floored by Four with Cline) with a ferocious combination of Ayler-esque spirituality, death metal brutality and electronically infused originality. The Veil is a testament to the viality of creative music in the age of gentrified sanitization with a sonic roar so loud no developer worth his blueprints would dare cross its path.