JAZZ REVIEW : Cline Group in a Striking Set

There was scarcely a swing rhythm to be heard during the headlining set by guitarist Nels Cline’s trio at the Alligator Lounge Monday but there was no shortage of striking improvised music at the small Westside club.

Now in its sixth month and scheduled to run through December, the New Music Monday series has proved an oasis for musicians who blend composition with improvisation and draw on jazz, rock and classical elements.

Billed as a tribute to Paul Motian, the Cline Trio did betray an occasional tentativeness in stepping outside its original material. But “Tuesday and Saturday” and “Conception Vessel” displayed the group’s range--the former featuring a modal Cline solo over bass guitarist Bob Mair’s octave drop drone and Michael Preussner’s propulsive drums while the latter was a lyrical exercise in crafting a ghostly atmosphere.

While the trio improvises as a fully integrated unit, Cline is a gripping guitarist whose playing is free of fusion cliches and explores the instrument’s full electronic range of sound supplemented by banging the strings with springs, an egg beater and more orthodox effects boxes. But the effects are unfailingly musical and for a pure musician, the lanky Cline cuts a pretty charismatic figure onstage.

Next Monday’s bill is more rock-oriented with the Cline Trio headlining a bill with Dos, the bass guitar duo of Kira Roessler and Firehose’s Mike Watt, and the Mecolodiacs, a new trio led by ex-Universal Congress Of guitarist Joe Baiza.