Charles Lloyd Quartet
feat. Jason Moran, Larry Grenadier, Eric Harland
Charles Lloyd was nominated “Jazz Master” by the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honor the United States can award a jazz musician. Behind this recognition is a long history that makes Charles Lloyd a legend of world music, not just jazz.
Before starting his career as a leader, Lloyd had a long apprenticeship in Memphis. Among his most important engagements, there is undoubtedly the one with Chico Hamilton, a Californian drummer who experimented with unusual sounds for that time and looked beyond the Western tradition. “Man from Two Worlds”, from the early 1960s, really captures the sense of that music, starting from the title. Lloyd is completely at ease here and also contributes as a composer.
His great success came in the second half of the 60s with “Dream Weaver”, the first studio album of the new quartet with Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, and Cecil McBee. “Forest Flower” and “The Flowering” are live albums, recorded respectively at the Monterey Festival and in Europe. His live records release extraordinary creative energy. In this period, Lloyd deepened his interest in the sounds of the East (he played world music when this term didn’t even exist), and harmony took place with the rock bands of the West Coast like the Beach Boys, Canned Heart, The Doors, and Grateful Dead.
After a long period of reflection (it would be better to say meditation), in the 80s, Lloyd started touring again, also in Europe. He released a live album for Blue Note in Copenhagen to document this. The pianist is Michel Petrucciani. Listening to it, one wonders why a jazz patrimony like Charles Lloyd had been absent from the scenes.
From the late 80s, Manfred Eicher had him record for ECM, and choosing the most representative titles in a catalog of such extraordinary quality is challenging.
“Wild Man Dance” marked Lloyd’s return to Blue Note after thirty years. There are five other records for the same label by Charles Lloyd & The Marvels, the New Quartet and Kindred Spirits. His latest releases are “Trios”, three albums, each one with a different trio. At Umbria Jazz 22, he played with a great master of guitar and improvisation, Bill Frisell, with whom Lloyd often collaborates. This time, Lloyd will play with his quartet, with Jason Moran on piano.
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Charles Lloyd Quartet
- Charles Lloyd, tenor sax
- Jason Moran, piano
- Larry Grenadier, double bass
- Eric Harland, drums
