The Blue Note debut of Wilco guitarist Nels Cline – a player who's quite a talent in his own right, and who seems to reach a new sort of height on this album! The record's an ambitious one – and features sublime larger arrangements by Michael Leonhart – who provides a very different setting for some of Cline's moody work on the strings of the guitar – as woodwinds and strings support his sounds in a few different modes – sometimes acoustic, sometimes electric, with a bit of pedal steel and other effects too. Leonhart's work brings a warmth and humanity to the record that Cline doesn't always have – but at a level that doesn't take away Nels' presence, either – and the set mixes classic standards with a range of unique song choices, in a double-length batch of music that includes "Invitation", "Hairpin & Hatbox", "Beautiful Love", "Lady Gabor", "Why Was I Born", "Snare Girl", "The Bond", "The Search For Cat", "Secret Love", "You Noticed", and "I Have Dreamed". CD

With Dan Grissom, Jimmie Lunceford, Laforet Dent, and Willie Smith on alto saxophone, Earl Carruthers on baritone saxophone, Joe Thomas on tenor saxophone, Eddie Durham, Elmer Crumbley, Henry Wells, and Russell Bowles on trombone, Eddie Tompkins, Paul Webster, Sy Oliver, and Tommy Stevenson on trumpet, Willie Smith on clarinet, Al Norris and Eddie Durham on guitar, Ed Wilcox on piano, Moses Allen on bass, and Jimmy Crawford on drums. CD