CHARLES LLOYD QUARTET - Rabo de Nube (2008) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Given that Charles Lloyd has been recording for Manfred Eicher's ECM label since 1989, it seems odd that Rabo de Nube (translation: Tail of a Cloud) is his first live quartet outing for the imprint, though he's done so in other combinations. Yet, given that this recording was issued a mere four days before the great saxophonist's 70th birthday, it is also a full circle of sorts for the Lloyd Quartet. Most of Lloyd's early quartet albums were recorded live for Atlantic between 1966 and 1968, seven in total, with the live band recording its first date over 40 years ago and featuring a young Keith Jarrett as its pianist. This association became a blueprint of sorts for a lineage of his subsequent pianists who have all gone on to their own measures of excellence as leaders: Michel Petrucciani, Bobo Stenson, Brad Mehldau, and Geri Allen. Jason Moran, the pianist here, is a leader in his own right, having also played with Wayne Shorter and Lee Konitz, to name just two; more importantly, his teachers offer a clue as to how his highly individual voice was developed -- Andrew Hill, Jaki Byard, and Muhal Richard Abrams. Moran joins Lloyd and longtime -- and immensely gifted -- drummer Eric Harland (who went to high school with Moran in Houston) and new bassist Ruben Rogers, who has previously been a member of groups led by the late Jackie McLean, Roy Hargrove, and Mulgrew Miller.

Recorded in Basel during the band's European tour in 2007, the band takes a very different approach to some familiar tunes. For starters, it has to do with style: Moran is a more physical player than many of the pianists Lloyd has employed in the past; his playing is more chord-oriented and percussive, less elegant and soulful than Allen's perhaps, less ornate than Petrucciani's, and certainly less contemplative than Stenson's. The material choices are wide-ranging. There's the hard-blowing "Prometheus," on which Lloyd and Moran walk the margins of free jazz as Harland pushes them toward it and Rogers holds down a flowing rhythmic tempo, elaborating on the choruses juxtaposing rhythm and harmonic investigation. Another blower on the set is "Sweet Georgia Bright," which Lloyd has played live in the past, but was first recorded when he was a member of Cannonball Adderley's group in 1964 with pianist Joe Zawinul. Moran's funky, hard-driving solo and the interplay of the rhythm section are remarkable. Lloyd's immense ability to soar with a nugget like this, influsing it with new fire is an asterisk that highlights his place as one of the true (if largely unsung) masters of the horn. Lloyd's alto flute gets a beautiful workout on "Booker's Garden," written for classmate Booker Little. His lyricism is only eclipsed by his deep soul groove -- which Moran takes to the bank in his own solo that lends the tune a different dynamic, one much bolder and centered in the middle of the keyboard. The playing by Rogers on the track is beautiful, using a Caribbean rhythmic pulse that allows Harland to dance around the soloists and make the backbeat slippery and fluid.

The closing title track was offered in a live quintet version on Lift Every Voice, the pickup band album recorded four days after 9/11. This one is quieter, sweeter, and more lyric and gentle, and a perfect way to end a show -- it is also the only non-original on the set. Fans of Lloyd's taragato playing will not be disappointed; it makes a grand appearance on the lengthy "Ramanujan." Moran's interaction and contrapuntal rhythmic exchanges with Harland are something to behold here; they push around and through one another in a call-and-response interchange that is subtle but forceful nonetheless. Rogers' way of playing between these two is like that of a telephone wire, bringing it all together. Of the seven tunes here, five are over ten minutes long. In other words, there is a lot of improvisation going on, but it is all deeply communicative and lyrical -- Lloyd's trademark for the last five decades as a composer, soloist, arranger, and bandleader. Ultimately, Rabo de Nube is yet another essential Lloyd offering from ECM. His sense of adventure is greater than ever, and his embrace of the tradition is equaled by his willingness to stretch it, bend it, turn it every which way but break it -- this band, with its energy and commitment to new jazz, is well-suited for that task and Moran certainly adds to the bounty considerably. Lloyd shows no signs of slowing down or simple contentment as he ages, and we are all the more fortunate for it.
|> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <|
Tracklist :
1    Prometheus    14:43
Charles Lloyd
2    Migration Of Spirit    10:15
Charles Lloyd
3    Booker's Garden    14:33
Charles Lloyd
4    Ramanujan    11:38
Charles Lloyd
5    La Colline De Monk    4:01
Charles Lloyd
6    Sweet Georgia Bright    12:17
Charles Lloyd
7    Rabo De Nube    7:36
Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez
Credits :
Double Bass – Reuben Rogers
Drums, Percussion – Eric Harland
Piano – Jason Moran
Tenor Saxophone, Alto Flute, Tárogató – Charles Lloyd

CHARLES LLOYD QUARTET - Mirror (2010) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

When Charles Lloyd showcased his quartet in a live setting on 2008's Rabo de Nube, it was one of the more exciting, free-flowing dates of that year. It was physical, full of intense engagement and fiery energy. On that date, he performed a number of tunes he'd recorded before, along with new compositions. Mirror, recorded with the same band -- drummer Eric Harland, pianist Jason Moran, and bassist Reuben Rogers -- in a Santa Barbara studio, is, as the title suggests, a mirror image of the previous outing. Here too, the saxophonist revisits some older material with, thanks in large part to his sidemen, new ears. The material is mostly gently swinging ballads and outré investigations showcasing an even more spiritual side to Lloyd's playing and arranging. But it also displays the great intuitive nuances this band is capable of. While the set opens with an elegant and gently swinging reading of the standard "I Fall in Love Too Easily," it's the follow-up, the spiritual "Go Down Moses," that showcases the group's persona with its modal, questioning concerns, while keeping the tune firmly in the church. The title track appeared on 1989's Canto, and is here performed with the kind of deep commitment and sense of interdependent energy only time and wisdom can impart. Another tune from that album, "Desolation Sound," while still a ballad, features a lot more engagement from the players here: Moran's solo looks in and through the changes to find a way outside and gets there. Harland's shimmering breaks add more crackle than on the original. Likewise, "The Water Is Wide" and "Lift Every Voice and Sing" are performed, in their restrained way, more energetically than they were on their respective albums. One of Mirror's great surprises is a tender reading of the Beach Boys' "Caroline, No." While the melody is inescapable, Lloyd very quickly transforms it into a jazz ballad of haunting, romantic beauty. On a pair of Monk tunes here -- "Ruby, My Dear" and "Monk's Mood" -- Moran's own musical personality is given free rein. He expresses it with his deft senses of rhythmic and harmonic intuition, underscoring unexpected phrases and elaborating on others. Ultimately, Mirror is another Lloyd triumph. It may not shake the rafters with its kinetics, but it does dazzle with the utterly symbiotic interplay between leader and sidemen.
|> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <|
Tracklist :
1     I Fall in Love Too Easily 5'00
Sammy Cahn / Jule Styne
2     Go Down Moses 5'59
Traditional    
3     Desolation Sound 7'03
Charles Lloyd    
4     La Llorona 5'35
Traditional    
5     Caroline, No 4'02
Tony Asher / Brian Wilson    
6     Monk's Mood 5'01
Thelonious Monk
7     Mirror 6'42
Charles Lloyd
8     Ruby, My Dear 5'25
Thelonious Monk
9     The Water Is Wide 7'19
Traditional    
10     Lift Every Voice and Sing 4'29
James Weldon Johnson / John R. Johnson    
11     Being and Becoming 7'02
Charles Lloyd    
12     Tagi 9'17
Charles Lloyd
Credits :
Double Bass – Reuben Rogers
Drums, Voice – Eric Harland
Executive-Producer – Manfred Eicher
Photography By – Dorothy Darr
Piano – Jason Moran
Producer – Charles Lloyd, Dorothy Darr
Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Voice – Charles

CHARLES LLOYD | MARIA FARANTOURI - Athens Concert (2011) 2xCD | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

No one, save for perhaps Charles Lloyd, could have predicted that when he resumed his recording career in 1989 with ECM, he would scale such artistic heights as a player, a mentor, and a bandleader. Lloyd has taken part in many fascinating musical experiments: with the late Billy Higgins in Sangam with drummer Eric Harland and Indian master percussionist Zakir Hussain, as well as on his many quartet recordings. The latest version, with bassist Reuben Rodgers, Harland, and pianist Jason Moran, has been together just over four years. It should come as no surprise then, that The Athens Concert, a double disc with the truly legendary Greek contralto Maria Farantouri, is as full of the exploratory wonder and delight as his other dates for the label. Farantouri is regarded in her own country as Edith Piaf was in France. Lloyd's band and Farantouri are assisted by Socratis Sinopoulos on lyra. "Kratissa Toi Zoi Mou (I Kept a Hold of My Life)," is a tune by Mikis Theodorakis set to a poem by George Seferis. Versions of Lloyd's "Dream Weaver" and "Prayer" are the only real instrumental tracks, and his song "Blow Wind" contains lyrics sung in English by Farantouri. The tune "Requiem" is a jazz number with lyrics by the famed writer/lyricist Agathi Dimitrouka. The three-part, 15-song Greek Suite takes up the lion's share of the performance. It is comprised of tunes that range from a Byzantine-era hymn to traditional songs from various regions of Greece, two more Theodorakis tunes, and one by composer Eleni Karaindrou (also an ECM artist) entitled "Voyage to Cythera." The suite was arranged by Takis Farazis, who also plays an additional piano on set-closer "Yanni Mou," and with Sinopoulos, bridges the two traditions. There isn't anything to really describe this music other than to say it is equally out of historical time and simultaneously concurrent within its stream. The two musical traditions -- post-millennial jazz and those of Greece's various eras and regions -- are made seamless, creating an entirely new and singular work that is dramatic, subtle, completely soulful, and full of startling musicianship. Indeed, the quartet plays this music as if it were part of their standard repertoire for a very special occasion. Improvisation, harmonic invention, and Lloyd's singular sense of leadership don't demand fine performances from his players; they are given freely. In turn, he offers his finest to Farantouri, who brings the collective bounty to the listening audience. The Athens Concert is truly inspirational and quite a watermark in a career full of them for Lloyd.
|> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <|
Tracklist 1 :
1    Kratissa Ti Zoi Mou (I Kept Hold Of My Life) 5'59
Lyrics By [Poem By] – George Seferis
Music By – Mikis Theodorakis
2    Dream Weaver (Hyfantis Oneiron) 8'10
Music By – Charles Lloyd
3    Blow Wind (Fyssa Ayeri) 5'34
Lyrics By, Music By – Charles Lloyd
4    Requiem 5'57
Lyrics By – Agathi Dimitrouka
Music By – Charles Lloyd
Greek Suite, Part I    
5    Hymnos Stin Ayia Triada (Hymn To The Holy Trinity) 4'03
[Early Byzantine Hymn] – Traditional
6    Epano Sto Xero Homa (In The Dry Soil) 2'52
Lyrics By, Music By – Mikis Theodorakis
7    Messa Stous Paradissious Kipous (In The Paradise Gardens) 4'49
Lyrics By, Music By – Mikis Theodorakis
8    Taxidi Sta Kythera (Voyage To Cythera) 4'35
Lyrics By, Music By – Eleni Karaindrou
Tracklist 2 :
1    Prayer (Prosethi) 7'58
Music By – Charles Lloyd
Greek Suite, Part II    
2    Vlefaro Mou (Oh Eyelid) 3'32
Lyrics By – Lina Nikolakopoulou
Music By – Nikos Kypourgos
3    Margaritarenia 1'29
Traditional From Smyrna
4    Thalassaki Mou (My Little Sea) 2'57
Composed By – Traditional From Dodecanese Islands
Greek Suite, Part III    
5    Epirotiko Meroloi (Lament From Epirus Region) 6'28
[Lament From Epirus Region] – Traditional
6    Kægomæ Kæ Sigoliano (I Burn And Slowly Melt) 5'00
Traditional From Epirus Region
7    Mori Kontoula Lemonia (Little Lemon Tree) 2'40
Traditional From Epirus Region
8    Alismono Kæ Hæromæ (I Forget And I Am Glad) 3'08
Composed By – Traditional From Epirus Region
9    Tou Hel' To Kastron (The Castle Of The Sun) 4'28
Traditional From The Black Sea
10    Yanni Mou (My Yanni) 7'27
Composed By – Traditional From Epirus Region
Piano [Additional Piano] – Takis Farazis
Credits :
Double Bass – Reuben Rogers
Drums – Eric Harland
Lyre [Lyra] – Socratis Sinopoulos
Piano – Jason Moran
Piano [Additional Piano], Arranged By [Arrangements Of The Greek Suite] – Takis Farazis (pistas: 1-5 to 1-7, 2-2 to 2-9)
Producer – Dorothy Darr, Manfred Eicher
Saxophone, Flute, Tárogató [Tarogato] – Charles Lloyd
Voice – Maria Farantouri

CHARLES LLOYD & THE MARVELS - I Long to See You (2016) Digipack | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Saxophonist Charles Lloyd has been working with guitarists periodically since the 1950s: Calvin Newborn, Gabor Szabo, John Abercrombie, and others have played in his bands. On I Long to See You, he (with his stellar rhythm section -- bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland) renews that relationship with two gifted players: Bill Frisell and Greg Leisz (the latter on lap and pedal steel). This program yields folk and spiritual songs, re-recordings of Lloyd's own tunes, a pop nugget, and a new original. In what feels like the input from the label, there are two guest vocal appearances to boot: Willie Nelson beautifully delivers Ed McCurdy's antiwar classic "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream," and Norah Jones offers a slow, dreamy reading of "You Are So Beautiful." I Long to See You feels more like a collaboration between Lloyd and Frisell than a leader date, which is sometimes problematic: these men can be overly deferential to one another. The album starts promisingly with a brooding read of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" that threatens to explode at any moment. Frisell and Leisz (who have worked together a lot) take it through deep winding blues, building tension before Lloyd enters and carries it toward the outside before returning to blues, while Harland's circular drumming becomes somberly hypnotic. Lloyd plays flute on "Of Course, of Course" (originally recorded for an album of the same name for Columbia in 1964). Like its predecessor, it's tough, swinging post-bop with colorful slide guitar work and rim-shot syncopations. "La Llorona," from Lloyd's ECM years, is a standout: it captures his open, mournful, Spanish-tinged wail, fleshed out by elegant, timbral guitars, a sad bassline, and Harland's magical timekeeping. "Shenandoah" (which Frisell has recorded before), "All My Trials," and "Abide with Me" are all melodically attractive, but they lack the undercurrent of passion Lloyd has imbued traditional material with in the past. He and Frisell appear so seduced by their melodies, they treat them as fragile objects, not songs whose meanings need to be further explored. Frisell's speculative solo intro on "Sombrero Sam" is overly long; Lloyd's rhythmic sweeping flute doesn't enter until five minutes in, and slips out too quickly. The lone new tune, "Barche Lamsel," more than compensates. Over 16 minutes in length, it's easily the most exploratory thing here. It commences slowly but starts cooking five minutes in. Lloyd and the rhythm section are at their modal improvisational best, moving through folk, funk, blues, Eastern modes, and post-bop. Frisell and Leisz lend fine solos as well as layered textural and atmospheric support. The tune is a journey that ends in a question mark. I Long to See You is well worth investigating even if, at times, it is overly tentative.
|> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <|
Tracklist :
1    Masters of War 8'05
Bob Dylan   
2     Of Course, of Course 6'03
Charles Lloyd   
3     La Llorona 6'02
Traditional   
4     Shenandoah 6'23
Traditional   
5     Sombrero Sam 7'31
Charles Lloyd   
6     All My Trials 5'02
Traditional   
7     Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream 4'48
Ed McCurdy   
8     Abide with Me 1'22
Traditional   
9     You Are So Beautiful 6'05
Bruce Fisher / Billy Preston   
10     Barche Lamsel 16'25
Charles Lloyd
Credits :
Bass – Reuben Rogers
Drums – Eric Harland
Featuring, Vocals – Norah Jones (pistas: 9)
Featuring, Vocals, Guitar – Willie Nelson (pistas: 7)
Guitar – Bill Frisell
Producer [Produced By] – Charles Lloyd, Don Was, Dorothy Darr
Steel Guitar – Greg Leisz
Tenor Saxophone, Alto Flute – Charles Lloyd

CHARLES LLOYD NEW QUARTET - Passin' Thru (2017) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Though the Charles Lloyd New Quartet has been together for a decade, they haven't recorded as a group since 2011's Athens Concert, when the saxophonist was still signed to ECM. Bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland were part of the Marvels' quintet for I Long to See You in 2016, and Lloyd most recently recorded with pianist Jason Moran on the duet offering Hagar's Song (also issued by ECM) in 2013. But not recording together doesn't mean the same thing as not playing, as amply evidenced here.

Passin' Thru finds the great saxophonist looking back through his catalog as well as offering new material. Set-opener "Dream Weaver," the set's longest track, served as the title cut of Lloyd's very first quartet leader date in 1966 (with Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, and bassist Cecil McBee). It is also the outlier in terms of locale, recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival while the remainder was captured at The Lensic in Sante Fe. This version commences with a modal, post-Coltrane intro as the saxophonist explores tones and space before Harland checks into its groove, one that touches on blues, folk music, a pop-style chorus and gospel before moving off to explore Eastern modalities, post-bop, and (some) dissonance before circling back to its lovely melody. "Nu Blues" is a striking fingerpopper that flirts with bop and R&B as well as the outside, giving plenty of room to Moran's fluid, virtuosic pianism and Harland's hard-swinging drum inventions as Rogers walks the hell out of his bass. His bassline introduces the bluesy "Tagore on the Delta." Moran spends its first half strumming the instruments strings zither-like as Lloyd digs deep into the groove with his flute, finding heat in Harland's heavy snare and hi-hat attack. At the midpoint, Moran moves to the keys and delivers a mean, meaty solo. The title track dates to 1963. Lloyd first recorded it as a member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet. Rogers opens it alternately plucking and strumming his strings, flirting with blues as well as modalism before Harland enters in double time, playing rim shots and accents. Moran adds a popping a chordal pattern before Lloyd enters and moves to the center, offering it as a quick, dance-like excursion into bop. Moran's solo is equal parts lightning and grace while Rogers engages him in trading fours before Lloyd -- ever the generous bandleader -- inspired by Harland, duets with him in startling feat of athletic lyricism. While this heart stopper could easily have been the album closer, it finishes with "Shiva's Prayer": a droning, abstracted meditative piece that includes lovely arco playing from Rogers. At 79, Lloyd shows no signs of slowing down. On Passin Thru', his quartet delivers a truckload of joy, grit, grace, and passion.
|>This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa'<|
Tracklist :
1    Dream Weaver    17:45
2    Part 5, Ruminations    11:54
3    Nu Blues    11:51
4    How Can I Tell You    9:46
5    Tagore On The Delta    7:45
6    Passin' Thru    7:22
7    Shiva Prayer    8:24
Credits :
Bass – Reuben Rogers
Saxophone, Flute, Composed By, Producer – Charles Lloyd
Design, Photography By, Producer – Dorothy Darr
Drums – Eric Harland
Piano – Jason Moran

CHARLES LLOYD & THE MARVELS + LUCINDA WILLIAMS - Vanished Gardens (2018) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

On Charles Lloyd & the Marvels 2016 debut, I Long to See You, the ensemble -- the saxophonist's rhythm section, drummer Eric Harland and bassist Reuben Rogers, and guitarists Bill Frisell and Greg Leisz -- delivered an honorable but overly deferential outing that somewhat belied the promise of its personnel. On Vanished Gardens, the Marvels leave deference in the dustbin. Here, with the assistance of Lucinda Williams, they create a music that draws on the sum total of experience and shared emotion. Lloyd, Frisell, and Leisz have all worked with rockers and country and blues players, while Harland and Rogers are jazz modernists rooted in tradition. The addition of Williams on four of her own tunes and a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Angel" transforms this band into a genre-blurring ensemble whose abilities mine the jazz and Americana traditions to redefine them in the new century.

"Defiant" commences as an extended showcase for Lloyd's modal and melodic soloing with loping pedal steel inside a 4/4 shuffle with Frisell's lonesome, lyrical playing. Williams enters on "Dust." The song originally appeared on 2016's Ghosts of Highway 20. In waltz time, Frisell's rockist power chords and Leisz's lap steel wails meet Lloyd's swirling, loping tenor that offers blues vamps amid post-bop swells to frame Williams' haunted, grainy vocal as she sings: "You couldn’t cry if you wanted to/Even your thoughts are dust," before erupting in a post-Coltrane solo with Frisell climbing behind him. The title track, with its skittering rhythms, wavelike pedal steel passes, and matched solos by Frisell and Lloyd, is a bluesy exercise in improvisation. The arrangement in Williams' "Ventura," (that appeared on West), remains startlingly close to that of the original, but Lloyd's soulful phrasing undergirds her singing with a particularly Southern grace. The inclusion of the standard "Ballad of the Sad Young Men" feels like an outlier. It's a skeletal, impressionistic ballad that lacks an anchoring center, it simply hovers and floats. Not so with the singer's raggedy gospel in "We've Come Too Far to Turn Around," where the weariness in the lyric meets the band's ability to braid Williams' voice with an emotional color palette that matches her own. The 11-plus-minute reading of her "Unsuffer Me" is the perfect meld of rock, blues, and modern post-bop jazz as both guitarists engage one another and Lloyd, who serves as the bridge between them and the singer with squeals, blurts, and flutters with his moaning horn. "Monk's Mood" is lovely, but only because of Lloyd's playing. The closing Hendrix cover is presented as a country-gospel meditation on love and eternity. Williams treats the tune as if it were her own; Frisell and Leisz surround her in soft, luxuriant textures as Lloyd accompanies her in a kind of spacy, hooky duet. Interestingly, the uneven moments on Vanished Gardens have more to do with the Marvels' reticence on the standards. Otherwise, the pairing of this band with Williams sounds natural, effortless, and holistic. There's definitely room for a sequel.
|>This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa'<|
Tracklist :
1    Defiant 8'41
Bass – Reuben Rogers
Drums – Eric Harland
Guitar – Bill Frisell
Pedal Steel Guitar – Greg Leisz
Tenor Saxophone – Charles Lloyd
Written-By – Charles Lloyd
2    Dust 7'58
Bass – Reuben Rogers
Drums – Eric Harland
Guitar – Bill Frisell
Pedal Steel Guitar – Greg Leisz
Tenor Saxophone – Charles Lloyd
Vocals – Lucinda Williams
Written-By – Lucinda Williams
3    Vanished Gardens 9'03
Bass – Reuben Rogers
Drums – Eric Harland
Guitar – Bill Frisell
Pedal Steel Guitar, Dobro – Greg Leisz
Tenor Saxophone – Charles Lloyd
Written-By – Charles Lloyd
4    Ventura 6'22
Bass – Reuben Rogers
Drums – Eric Harland
Guitar – Bill Frisell
Pedal Steel Guitar – Greg Leisz
Tenor Saxophone – Charles Lloyd
Vocals – Lucinda Williams
Written-By – Lucinda Williams
5    Ballad Of The Sad Young Men 6'17
Bass – Reuben Rogers
Drums – Eric Harland
Guitar – Bill Frisell
Pedal Steel Guitar – Greg Leisz
Tenor Saxophone – Charles Lloyd
Written-By – Fran Landesman, Tommy Wolf
6    We've Come Too Far To Turn Around 6'30
Bass – Reuben Rogers
Dobro – Greg Leisz
Drums – Eric Harland
Guitar – Bill Frisell
Tenor Saxophone – Charles Lloyd
Vocals – Lucinda Williams
Written-By – Lucinda Williams
7    Blues For Langston And LaRue 5'38
Alto Flute – Charles Lloyd
Bass – Reuben Rogers
Drums – Eric Harland
Guitar – Bill Frisell
Pedal Steel Guitar – Greg Leisz
Written-By – Charles Lloyd
8    Unsuffer Me 11'42
Bass – Reuben Rogers
Drums – Eric Harland
Guitar – Bill Frisell
Pedal Steel Guitar – Greg Leisz
Tenor Saxophone, Vocals [Ghost Vocals] – Charles Lloyd
Vocals – Lucinda Williams
Written-By – Lucinda Williams
9    Monk's Mood 5'15
Guitar – Bill Frisell
Tenor Saxophone – Charles Lloyd
Written-By – Thelonious Monk
10    Angel 5'53
Guitar – Bill Frisell
Tenor Saxophone – Charles Lloyd
Vocals – Lucinda Williams
Written-By – Jimi Hendrix

CHARLES LLOYD - 8 : Kindred Spirits Live at the Lobero Theatre (2020) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Saxophonist and composer Charles Lloyd celebrated his 80th birthday in 2018. His wife and manager Dorothy Darr decided to commemorate it with a series of shows that would, in and of themselves, be remarkable celebrations. 8: Kindred Spirits Live at the Libero was cut at the 150-year-old Libero Theater in Santa Barbara on March 15 (his actual birthday). Lloyd was in the company of a stellar band that included longtime drummer Eric Harland, and more recent companions pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Reuben Rogers, and guitarist Julian Lage. He was joined during the second set by organist Booker T. Jones and Blue Note boss Don Was. The full show was released as an expensive, limited-edition package that included three LPs, two compact discs, and a DVD of the entire performance, along with a whopping 96-page hardcover book and a pair of photo prints. This standard version contains both an audio disc and a DVD (or a pair of LPs) and a visual disc that features the concert’s first set sans guests, but it's quite strong on its own.

It opens with Lloyd's biggest "hit," a 20-plus minute version of "Dream Weaver," originally recorded in the mid-'60s. Its first five minutes are spent in warm yet abstract improvisation; Lloyd engages sound more than song. Clayton's ostinato ring & roll prompts Lage to deliver tight arpeggios atop Rogers' modal bass and Harland's intricate cymbal and snare play. At five minutes, Lloyd delivers a mantra-like phrase three times then engages the tune's melody. The band finds it quickly and settles into a simmering, song-like exchange; all players wind through and around one another, taking turns soloing before returning to the lucid groove. "Requiem," issued on Notes from Big Sur in 1992, finds the saxophonist delving deeply into the blues in both the intro and his solo, while Lage delivers a shadowy exercise in post-bop's scalar harmonics. The Mexican folk standard "La Llorona" has been with Lloyd since the beginning, though he didn't cut it in the studio until 2016. The frontline of Clayton (who at times gets his piano to sound like a marimba) and Lage offers a quiet drama and tension like a spell, until Harland sets it all free with his consummate fills and accents. The saxophonist enters at 5:33 and moans through his own lyric statement of the theme, adding whispers and wails, and turning it into an emotional watershed, especially when he quotes form "'Round Midnight." The closer, "Part 5: Ruminations," is a relatively new tune. Its early minutes are spent in improvisation, with Lloyd touching on mentors Coltrane, Rollins, Ben Webster, and Coleman Hawkins before Lage and Clayton push into the melody and swing it as Rogers states the groove. There are duo improvs between Lloyd and Lage (the latter's solo is magnificent), the guitarist and Clayton; Harland and Lloyd; Rogers and Lloyd, etc. At over 18 minutes, it is at once exploratory and accessible. This edition comes with its own 40-page hardbound book of photos that include stirring moments of now-absent figures from Lloyd's long life: pianist Michel Petrucciani, guitarist John Abercrombie, and drummer Billy Higgins. Arguably, this edition of 8: Kindred Spirits, though only a first set, is one of Lloyd's strongest live offerings to date.
|>This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa'<|
Tracklist :
1     Dream Weaver 21:05
Charles Lloyd    
2     Requiem 11:32
Charles Lloyd    
3     La Llorona 9:03
Traditional    
4     Ruminations, Pt. 5 18:09
Charles Lloyd
Credits :
Bass – Reuben Rogers
Drums – Eric Harland
Guitar – Julian Lage
Piano – Gerald Clayton
Saxophone – Charles Lloyd

CHARLES LLOYD & the MARVELS - Tone Poem (2021) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tone Poem is the third album by saxophonist Charles Lloyd's Americana jazz quintet the Marvels -- guitarist Bill Frisell, pedal steel guitarist Greg Leisz, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Eric Harland. Cut over several years in California studios and from a Madrid stage, it comprises six covers and three Lloyd originals. The album marks the first time the band have recorded without singers. At 82, Lloyd is a master of the form who knows what he wants from his sidemen and how to get it.

Reinventions of two Ornette Coleman classics introduce the set. The composer's bluesy feel comes through immediately in "Peace" as Leisz, Frisell, and Lloyd engage its relaxed, syncopated melody even more slowly than on the original. Lloyd's solo underscores the Middle Eastern modalism in Coleman's tags as the string players extrapolate on the blues. On "Ramblin'," Leisz's pedal steel choogles, emulating a train (perhaps the Midnight Flyer out of Lloyd's native Memphis). The saxophonist adds a few notes from American folk song "Shortnin' Bread" before grabbing on to Coleman's mutant bop head. Frisell's playing is all sparking blues and shuffling alongside Leisz's. Harland's martial rim shots could lead a NOLA second line parade as the jam departs for open spaces. Songwriter Leonard Cohen loved and celebrated traditional country music -- he often carried a copy of Hank Williams' collected lyrics on tour. The Marvels' version of Cohen's "Anthem" would have earned his deep appreciation. While the string players follow the languid tempo and harmony, Lloyd solos up and down the melody, expanding it incrementally as if it were being imparted to him in a dream. The musician's sensitivity and spiritual empathy are redolent. His "Dismal Swamp" is a funky soul-jazz wherein he leads the band with punchy flute vamps as Frisell paints the margins with Harland, Leisz, and Rogers roiling the groove. "Monk's Mood" is rendered with lush nocturnal atmospherics as steel and sax share the melody. The pedal steel adds a touch of exotica, but Frisell's comping keeps it earthbound. "Ay Amor" is a reinvention of Cuban singer, songwriter, and pianist Ignacio Jacinto Villa Fernández (aka Bola de Nieve). Lloyd and company render it with breezy elegance, poignant emotion, and deep respect. Both Gábor Szabó's "Lady Gabor" and Lloyd's "Prayer" date to the early 1960s when the guitarist and saxophonist were with Chico Hamilton's group. On the former, dancing drums and bass meet spiky flute jabs that feed Frisell's biting garagey psychedelia. "Prayer" commences as a spectral ballad featuring Rogers' glorious arco playing before Lloyd's tenor carries it outside briefly to the tumult that exists beyond the margin. Frisell's shard-like chords and Leisz's atmospherics frame Harland's tense tom-tom pulse and muted cymbals. Over nearly nine minutes, it changes shapes several times before the tenor whispers the set out. While the singers on earlier Marvels albums offered ready accessibility, Tone Poem is perhaps more resonant given its consummate musicality and masterful tune curation.
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Tracklist :
1     Peace 3'12
Ornette Coleman    
2     Ramblin 4'59
Ornette Coleman
3     Anthem 6'19
Leonard Cohen    
4     Dismal Swamp 6'31
Charles Lloyd    
5     Tone Poem 9'04
Charles Lloyd    
6     Monk’s Mood 10'26
Thelonious Monk    
7     Ay Amor 10'05
Ignacio Jacinto Villa Fernández    
8     Lady Gabor 10'50
Gabor Szabo
9     Prayer 8'34
Charles Lloyd
Credits :
Bass – Reuben Rogers
Drums – Eric Harland
Guitar – Bill Frisell
Steel Guitar – Greg Leisz
Tenor Saxophone, Alto Flute – Charles Lloyd