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Charles Lloyd: Mirror
by Hrayr Attarian
Charles Lloyd's Mirror is an intensely personal almost autobiographical work. This is apparent from the opener, a deconstructing of the standard “I Fall in Love Too Easily," where the saxophonist's urgent and pleading tone accurately conveys the feeling of unrequited love. The first track bleeds into the next, the traditional gospel tune “Go Down Moses," rearranged by the leader. His alto--backed by Eric Harland's pulsatile drumming, Reuben Rogers' arco bass and Jason Moran's sparse piano--creates a dense, spiritual atmosphere. Moran ...
Continue ReadingCharles Lloyd Quartet: Mirror
by John Kelman
Sometimes the trust in knowing can yield more than the excitement of uncharted territory. Charles Lloyd ratchets down the energy from Rabo De Nube (ECM, 2008), one of the most exciting, free-wheeling albums and new groups of the saxophonist's half century career. Relying on the quartet's increasingly profound chemistry--and mostly recycled material rather than Rabo's largely new set of originals--Lloyd continues his upward trajectory; his intrinsically spiritual nature a moving force behind an album somewhat reminiscent of The Water is ...
Continue ReadingThe Charles Lloyd Quartet Live at the Highline Ballroom, NYC
by Warren Allen
Charles Lloyd Quartet Highline Ballroom New York, New York July 3, 2009
Charles Lloyd hasn't lost a step. He has an instantly recognizable and deeply personal sound on every instrument in his formidable arsenal. His technique gets an audience feeling it. But perhaps his most underrated gift is the ability to be a catalyst for the players around him.
His 1960s quartet with Jack DeJohnette and Keith Jarrett was one of jazz's most popular ...
Continue ReadingCharles Lloyd: Dream Weaver - The Charles Lloyd Anthology - The Atlantic Years 1966-1969
by Chris May
Beautiful and absorbing though most of them are, Charles Lloyd's discs on ECM, with whom the reed player has been recording for almost twenty years, have tended to overshadow the wonderful albums he made with the Charles Lloyd Quartet for Atlantic forty and more years ago.With Atlantic, Lloyd notched up eight LPs recorded in the three years from 1966—radical discs which reflected the youth zeitgeist like no other jazz outfit—before the quartet imploded in the face of mutual ...
Continue ReadingCharles Lloyd Quartet: Rabo de Nube
by Stuart Broomer
Charles Lloyd has an obvious knack for assembling bands; it's been apparent since he first launched his quartet in the mid '60s with Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette and Cecil McBee or Ron McClure. In the decades following he's often employed fine musicians with very different styles, including pianists Michel Petrucciani and Geri Allen, guitarist John Abercrombie and drummer Billy Higgins. His current group--with Jason Moran (piano), Reuben Rogers (bass) and Eric Harland (drums)--puts equal emphasis on youthful vigor and free ...
Continue ReadingCharles Lloyd New Quartet in San Francisco
by Eric Benson
Charles Lloyd New Quartet Herbst Theater San Francisco March 28, 2008
Is there a point at which deeply spiritual music becomes too ethereal for its own good? A point at which both message and music are lost on an earth-bound audience?
John Coltrane's late-career immersion in the spiritual through turning upward toward the transcendent stands as jazz's most famous litmus test for listeners' tolerance of such theological directions. Fans of albums like Interstellar Space ...
Continue ReadingCharles Lloyd: Rabo De Nube
by Budd Kopman
Jazz is a magical thing that exists, paradoxically, both in the unique existential moment of creation, never to happen again and on record, where crystallizing the ephemeral is attempted. Hearing jazz live can be a peak experience, but barring that, listening to a good recording of a great concert can come close, albeit vicariously.
Rabo de Nube captures a phenomenal show by the legendary, seventy-yer-old saxophonist/flutist Charles Lloyd, with his new quartet featuring pianist Jason Moran, bassist Reuben Rogers and ...
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