Nels Cline Consentrik Quartet at Littlefield

Nels Cline Consentrik Quartet
Littlefield
Brooklyn, NY
October 1, 2025

Nels Cline's Consentrik Quartet returned to the stage to make a rare Brooklyn appearance at Littlefield. The formidable ensemble also included saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, bassist Chris Lightcap and drummer Tom Rainey. One of the most striking aspects of the group is how smoothly Cline's relatively wet, heavily effects-laden aesthetic fluidly integrates with the bone dry timbres of Laubrock, Lightcap and Rainey. If Cline's role in this music occupies a sort of omniscient, universal character, his group firmly holds the grounded elements below. The product of this is a sound that, arguably, represents the best synthesis of Cline's creative inspirations and interests.

Nowhere else is the concept of "rock-as-jazz/jazz-as-rock" more organic and palpable than in the music of Nels Cline. For the past 40+ years, Cline has released nearly two dozen albums as a leader and each document offers evidence of a continuing artistic journey of investigation that shows no signs of waning. Taking equal direction from '70s-era Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Terje Rypdal and classic psychedelic rock from Jimi Hendrix, Cream and the Grateful Dead, Cline's work displays a personalized version of fusion that elaborates on the nature of both so-called rock and jazz traditions while also expanding the experimental limits of both through incorporating radical free improvisation and sound art practices. As a composer, his work is evocative and patient with a penchant for striking, character-driven melodic structures—both lyrical and angular—and impressionistic group textures where communication and facility are paramount.

The Littlefield show featured selections exclusively from their eponymous debut, Consentrik Quartet (Blue Note, 2025). From the get-go, Cline and crew established a deep trust and connection between band, space,and crowd that held for the duration of both sets. Following an alap-like ambient meditation, the group gently slipped into its first piece with the mantra-like "Inner Wall," and continued with a fiery dialogue leading into the angular "Question Marks (The Spot)." One of the show's most shining qualities was the way that gestures and underlying threads between pieces were further elaborated upon through these connective improvisations. In this sense, it felt like a director's cut of the album. It was as much a joy to witness and hear the distinct musical personalities expressing themselves as it was to hear the full context of these pieces as they relate to one another while realizing Cline's full vision. Cline especially got to stretch out on "The 23" over Lightcap's hypnotic bass ostinato. After a short breath, the group dived into a jaunty version of "Surplus" that gave an impression of what it would have been like if Ornette Coleman had been a permanent member of the Allman Brothers Band. The set closed with a playful reading of "Satomi" dedicated to Satomi Matsuzaki, frontperson and singer of Deerhoof.

If the first set acted more as a showcase of the innumerable places this group can travel together, the second set was decidedly more open-ended, focusing more on the group than the pieces with almost no breaks in between. Things kicked off with a thunderous solo by Rainey that led the group straight into the bouncing swing of "The Bag," which, once the main theme had been stated, gave way to another open dialogue between Rainey and Laubrock that only ratcheted up the initial intensity well beyond 11. Continuing with mischievous jazz undertones while dialing back the flame slightly, the group soon transitioned into a slinky rendition of "Down Close" and this proved to be one of the evening's best examples of the depth of interplay between the four artists. Although improvised, every choice throughout the open passages considered the global dynamic of the group above mere soloistic display and it was clear that no one on stage was holding anything back. Cline's patience and taste as a leader as well as a brilliant complementary force was best displayed at this point in the show and, likewise, Laubrock, Rainey and Lightcap's performances brought things out of each of these pieces that were impossible to fully translate through recording alone. The set maintained this level of interplay through the two final pieces in the bluesy, hymn-like "Allende" and the Paul Motian-esque "House of Steam," which began with a virtuosic solo from Lightcap.

If the show was any indicator, Cline and Consentrik Quartet have only just begun to speak as a unit and almost certainly will have music to make and share for years to come. A well-tuned balance of musical characters is an enormous task to achieve, let alone to expand upon and connect with in a live forum. Since forming during the pandemic, Cline, Laubrock, Lightcap and Rainey have already clearly evolved as a live entity and show no signs of changing the course of their upward expressive arc.

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