Brief Encounter with Guitarist Nels Cline at Istanbul Airport

Standing in the passport queue at Istanbul Airport - modelled after a Disneyland switchback and just as crowded - I noticed a group of four or five arty-looking Americans in the row in front of me, two of them carrying guitar gig bags on their backs. It is easy to spot Americans when travelling internationally these days, not because of their loud mouths as in days of yore, but because we are few and far between in airports bursting at the seams with first time travellers from the so-called 'emerging world'. Anyway these Americans truly looked like artistes among the crowd of laptop, hand-phone and iPad twiddling tourists and businessmen.

The queue stalled endlessly and the tallest of the lot, a thin 50-something guitar-carrying traveller, stopped in front of me with the name tag on his gig bag dangling in my face: "Nels Cline. New York, NY". Nels Cline - Nels Cline Singers - guitar not my musical bag but he is known for creativity and my Google search a day later showed him playing alongside Ellery Eskelin and William Parker, Julius Hemphill and Tim Berne. Apparently he has hooked up with a rock band called Wilco (whom I have neither heard of nor heard), apparently a big deal which has exposed him to a much larger audience than his avant-garde jazz playing ever did. I've listened to his music without paying enough attention.

Ron: I see being a famous guitarist doesn't help you get through the passport line any faster.

Nels: No.

Ron: Its not easy travelling carrying your instruments and stuff.

Nels: Its not too bad.

Ron: Well anyway, congratulations on making it to this point in life playing music for a living.

Nels: Its the only thing I've ever wanted to do. Thank you.

Security opened the gate and let the line pass; he was gone.

Well, maybe I have to give his music a serious listen now. Humility and talent seldom go together. As Jackie said when I told her about the incident, "reasons to like musicians 101".

Joe Morris, William Parker and Marco Eneidi in Washington DC

The Joe Morris Trio at Bohemian Caverns: William Parker (b), Marco Eneidi (as), Joe Morris (g)

I flew into Washington DC from Lagos yesterday. Arrived early in the morning and the hotel didn't have any rooms ready. People were hanging out in the tiny lobby when I returned in the afternoon to check in. One man sitting on the sofa looked strangely familiar, like I knew him from somewhere before, but I couldn't quite place the face.

Coming down in the elevator I noticed that the guy standing next to me was holding an alto case so I struck up some small-talk conversation, you know...are you a musician, what kind of music do you like to play, what kind of horn do you play? He was Marco Eneidi, Viennese alto saxophonist with whom I was not previously familiar but who has played with the likes of Cecil Taylor, in town for a one-night stand at Bohemian Caverns. Marco said he was there with a trio, a guitar player and a bassist. So he proceeded to introduce me to the man sitting on the couch. "This is my bass player." I shook his hand and asked his name. "William Parker" was the reply.

William Parker and Marco Eneidi

My jaw dropped. William Parker? One of the best bass players on the planet, icon of creative free improvisation, and prolific recording artist who has been on my playlist for years? Then up walked the guitar player...Joe Morris, ostensible leader of the trio at Bohemian Caverns, who I knew from his recordings with great saxophonists like Ken Vandermark and Anthony Braxton...not your garden variety rhythm section by any means. Maybe one of the finest free jazz collaborations playing today. 

Joe Morris

We chatted for a while. William talked about how musicians create positive energy and help keep the world from imploding.

I went to 11th and U at 7:00 pm to hear the trio's gig. Two hours of sublime, cerebral free improvisation for an attentive but small audience, well less than a hundred, in a funky basement. The two one-hour sets passed like ten minutes. It was great for me to hear such high-level free improvisation after so long. I must thank Joe Morris, William Parker, and Marco Eneidi for not only staying dedicated to the cause but also making a success of it. Joe said that he is just a regular human being and that he has worked hard to be able to speak through his instrument. He told me that we should continue our conversation on line - too bad I don't do Facebook. 

You never know what is going to happen when you wake up in the morning; I certainly never expected to run into William Parker and hear such superb music when I got out of bed yesterday. One of the good surprises life holds.