Alex Cline broke into a rare smile as he put down his sticks and looked over at his twin brother, Nels Cline, who had just torn up a boppish guitar solo to conclude the first of two extended improvisations by the seven-member Free Cloud Collective. Good to be together; good to play together; good to collaborate with musicians as tuned-in as keyboardist Joshua White, clarinetist Peter Kuhn, violinist Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, trumpeter Chris DiMeglio and bassist Curtis Robertson Jr.
Calling themselves Free Cloud Collective, the seven had gathered at Escondido's Deer Park Monastery as part of a fundraiser -- Kuhn and Alex are devotees of Thich Nhat Hanh's branch of Buddhism. And there was plenty of spiritual connection on display: the genetic link between Alex & Nels; the well-established duo rapport between Alex & White; the obvious intervibing of Kuhn and DiMeglio, wayback NYC avant scenesters who sometimes couldn't be told apart with your eyes closed.
On top of all that, much in mind was the frail condition of Will Salmon, co-director with Alex of the long-running monthly edge-music refuge Sunday Evening Concerts in Pasadena (formerly Eagle Rock). According to Alex, Salmon would in fact cross over seven days later, June 1.
After Alex cleared the stage air, Nels took charge with a variety of moods in the first group improvisation with his whammy jerks, string scrubs, pedal boils and Morse taps. Between powerful group surges driven by Alex hurling himself at the whole kit, the waves would subside into a dimly lighted forest with clouds of electronic insects and hovering birds -- where were all those FX coming from, Atwood, Nels, White? Nice Atwood-Robertson bow interaction. The overall '70s Miles feel was accentuated by Kuhn's sensitively placed B-flat and alto-clarinet abstractions, while DiMeglio screeled his horn with intense authority. Nervy scribbly synth solo from White, too, studded with dissonant stabs to the piano.
Atwood opened the second improvisation with fast violin arpeggios, and Nels slid a few Asiatic notes up the neck to create a silk curtain, which White decorated with stars. Robertson started a bass groove and Alex clacked along; White hit a one-chord vamp; Nels tripped jazzbluesy and threw in some raga, inspiring White to hammer on his ass all Herbie-like. Eventually everything floated into the air, as if they were thinking about . . . something.
A wondrous 40 minutes of listening to fine musicians listen to one another and to the source within.
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Will Salmon was a fine singer, actor and playwright, and he played numerous instruments well, especially flute. He did not act as if those accomplishments were any big deal, and he did not seem to think it strange or unfortunate that he wasn't widely acclaimed. He just went about finding places where he and others with great abilities and non-mainstream predilections could find audiences.
To say that someone who owned all those qualities is rare would be a grave understatement. It's possible that many people in Los Angeles who love performance, even if they didn't know Will Salmon, are going to feel something is missing.
Read comments to Steuart Liebig's posting about Will Salmon on the Facebook page of Salmon's Open Gate Theater here.
ALEX CLINE ADDS: Will was extraordinarily inspired, dedicated and persistent, as well as multifaceted and multitalented. He was probably best known for founding/directing his performance entity Open Gate Theatre (with which I first performed back in 1983, although I first met him in the late 1970s). He was my longtime friend, and my partner in the Open Gate monthly concert series for the 22 years I curated it. He passed away after six weeks of an intensive engagement with a severe and very aggressive form of cancer and the extreme treatment for it. A concert in Will's memory will be scheduled sometime in coming months.
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Watch the Free Cloud Collective performance from 3:36 to 4:17 here. Hit the DONATE button to show your appreciation.