Life and career

He began his life as an Anglican and was sometime organist and choirmaster at Holy Trinity Church, Dulwich Hill in Sydney. McAuley lost his Christian faith as a younger man.

In 1943 McAuley was commissioned as a lieutenant in the militia for the Australian Army, and served in Melbourne (DORCA) and Canberra. After the war he also spent time in New Guinea, which he regarded as his second "spiritual home".

McAuley came to prominence in the wake of the 1945 Ern Malley hoax. With fellow poet, Harold Stewart, McAuley concocted sixteen nonsense poems in a pseudo-experimental modernist style. These were then sent to the young editor of the literary magazine ''Angry Penguins'', Max Harris. The poems were raced to publication by Harris and Australia's most celebrated literary hoax was set in motion.

In 1952 he converted to Roman Catholicism, the faith his own father had abandoned. This was in the parish of St Charles at Ryde. He was later introduced to Australian musician Richard Connolly by a priest, Ted Kennedy, at the Holy Spirit parish at North Ryde and the two subsequently collaborated to produce between them the most significant collection of Australian Catholic hymnody to date, titled "Hymns for the Year of Grace". Connolly was McAuley's sponsor for his confirmation into the Roman Catholic Church. In his undergraduate years McAuley was influenced by both communism and anarchism, but although a man of the left, McAuley remained staunchly anti-communist throughout his later life. In 1956 he and Richard Krygier founded the literary and cultural journal, ''Quadrant'' and was chief editor until 1963. From 1961 he was professor of English at the University of Tasmania.

A portrait of McAuley by J Carington Smith won the 1963 Archibald prize.

James McAuley died of cancer in 1976, at the age of 59, in Hobart.

Bibliography

Prose

Editions and Selections

Hymns

Translation

Footnotes

References

Sources

Category:1917 births Category:1976 deaths Category:Australian poets Category:Australian Roman Catholics Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism Category:Australian people of Irish descent Category:University of Sydney alumni Category:Australian military personnel of World War II Category:University of Tasmania faculty Category:Cancer deaths in Tasmania Category:Australian literary critics

Nels Cline (born January 4, 1956 in Los Angeles) is an American guitarist and composer, currently the lead guitarist of alternative rock band Wilco. David Carr describes Cline in the New York Times as "one of the best guitarists in any genre."

Career

Cline is known for his improvisational work and for the diversity of his musical projects, as well as his use of effects pedals and looping devices which give his music a distinct sound. He has played with jazz musicians Charlie Haden, Gregg Bendian, Wadada Leo Smith, Tim Berne, Vinny Golia and the late bassist Eric Von Essen, a longtime musical companion in the L.A. jazz group Quartet Music.

In 1983, Nels was asked by drummer Chris Mancinelli and bassist Steuart Liebig to join the early formation of BLOC. The trio developed musical ideas for about a year. At this point they added another guitarist NIcholas Kirgo and vocalist Camille Henry. The quintet became a Los Angeles club favorite and garnered much praise from the local press and media. Practically every major label was interested at some point but no major label seemed to have a clue how to promote the multi-talented group. In 1990 with Tony Peluso producing, they were signed with A&M; Records after turning down a previous offer from Atlantic Records. The album "In the Free Zone" was released in early 1991. A&M; at this point was in the middle of being sold to Polygram and there was little support at the label for the band. They were bought out of their 2 album deal and promptly dropped a month after the album's release. After 8 years of performing and recording the group decided to break up and move on.

Cline has also performed and recorded with punk rock bassist Mike Watt in his touring bands The Crew of the Flying Saucer and The Black Gang, as well as with members of Sonic Youth and country music legend Willie Nelson, and in the jazz/punk/improv band Banyan with Watt and ex-Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins. He frequently participates in jazz projects with his twin brother, Alex, however their first actual duo together was in Culver City, California, at their 50th birthday show.

Cline's first appearance on an album was on Vinny Golia's 1978 record, ''Openhearted'', and his first work as a bandleader was 1988's ''Angelica.'' In the late 1980s, Cline formed the Nels Cline Trio, which featured his guitar playing complemented by Mark London Sims at bass and Michael Preussner at drums. The trio released several 7 inch demos and one album, before replacing Sims with Bob Mair at bass. This new trio released three albums before splitting up, featuring some of Cline's most melodic works, before he ventured into a freer and more minimalist territory in the decade to come. Shortly before the end of the trio, Nels recorded two albums, ''In-Store'', and ''Pillow Wand'', with Sonic Youth frontman and guitarist, Thurston Moore.

Nels was also a member of the Geraldine Fibbers and Scarnella with Carla Bozulich. He played on, co-arranged and produced her The Red Headed Stranger album guest-starring Jenny Scheinman, Scott Amendola, Devin Hoff and Willie Nelson, as well as Bozulich's Evangelista albums. Additionally, the two worked sporadically on performance pieces, album co-production/recording, countless tours adding up to hundreds of concerts and more during their 12 year collaboration.

In 1999, Cline paired up with jazz drummer Gregg Bendian to record a modern rendition of John Coltrane's 1967 album, ''Interstellar Space.'' On ''Interstellar Space Revisited: The Music of John Coltrane'', Bendian and Cline reinterpret Coltrane's piece using their own distinctive approaches. He also participated in ROVA's ''Electric Ascension'' (2005), a performance of Coltrane's landmark large-ensemble recording ''Ascension'' (1965).

Cline's current outfit is the improv/free jazz ensemble The Nels Cline Singers, with which he has recorded four albums, ''Instrumentals'', ''The Giant Pin'', ''Draw Breath'' and ''Initiate'', his most recent work as a leader. The Nels Cline Singers are currently signed with Cryptogramophone Records.

Another important project of Cline's has been the Acoustic Guitar Trio, a free-improvisation group with Jim McAuley and the late Rod Poole that specialized in microtonal improvisation.

Cline has performed on over 150 albums in the jazz, pop, rock, country, and experimental pop music genres. He continues to expand his audience as a member of the Grammy-winning rock band Wilco, which he joined in early 2004. He was later featured in the cover story of Guitar Player Magazine for his collaboration with the band. Cline appears on Wilco's albums ''Sky Blue Sky'' and ''Wilco (The Album)'', as well as the live album ''Kicking Television: Live in Chicago'', and tours with the band.

In February, 2007, Cline was chosen by ''Rolling Stone'' Magazine as one of the Top 20 New Guitar Gods, and given the title "The Avant Romantic."

Currently, Cline is using the Schroeder DB-7 red amplifier built for him by Tim Schroeder of Schroeder Guitar & Amp Repair in Chicago, IL.

Personal life

Notable discography

References

External links

Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:Avant-garde jazz musicians Category:American composers Category:American jazz guitarists Category:American rock guitarists Category:Musicians from Los Angeles, California Category:University High School (Los Angeles, California) alumni Category:Wilco members

Early life

Career

Stage and screen credits

;Broadway

References

External links

Category:1993 births Category:Actors from Florida Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American people of Sicilian descent Category:American child actors Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:Living people Category:People from Boca Raton, Florida