extended technique, frequency manipulation, real time improvisation
birthplace: kingfisher, oklahoma. mother: piano & accordion player from family of evangelical musician-preachers. father: railroad worker with ambition. early life: migratory, restless, outsider. chicago. at 13, hears bo diddley on car radio. convinces mother to purchase guitar. learns to play blues listening to muddy waters, sonny boy williamson, etc. starts playing in blues and r&b clubs. works /hangs out with cash mccall, willie dixon, hound dog taylor, hubert sumlin.
'60s erupt. flirts with success as blues rock guitarist. performs at several full scale uprisings including the infamous grant park riot. experiments with other music forms. starts learning charlie parker tunes. miles davis' "bitches brew" alters direction. starts improvising.
1974: co-founds shadowfax, brings together jazz, world music, rock. relocates to los angeles. success and eventual dissatisfaction. 1989: jettisons into los angeles underground music community. further refines extended technique and frequency manipulation.
2000: "vapor" released on thurston moore's ecstatic peace label. compilation of improvising groups assembled to perform at new music monday, the notorious series begun by nels cline and curated by stinson from '96 through '98.
groups/collaborations: napalm quartet, splinter group, stinkbug, metalworkers, bone structure, cline-gauthier-stinson, unique cheerful events, destroy all nels cline, yusef lateef-adam rudolph's world at peace, alex cline ensemble, phillip greenlief's covered pages, wayne peet trio, duets: kaoru, miya masaoka, yasuhiro otani, chris brown, nels cline, alex degrassi. dancer-choreographer collaborations: momix, tim latta, oguri, lisa giobbi, yvonne papanek. visual art, video and sound collaborations: carole kim.
