Record Reviews

CHARLES LLOYD ~ TRIOS: CHAPEL BLUE NOTE 602445266494 (Barcode: 602445266494) ~ USA ~ Jazz Recorded: 2018 Released: 2022 This is the first album in the series of “Trio of Trios” albums by the legendary American Jazz saxophonist / flautist / composer / bandleader Charles LloydFind albums by this artist, recorded with guitarist Bill FrisellFind albums by this artist and bassist Thomas MorganFind albums by this artist. It is a live recording. The album presents five tracks, three composed by Lloyd and two standards. One of the true “last of the Mohicans” of American Jazz, Charles Lloyd (born in 1938), remains still at his full capacity and his recording legacy keeps growing, now at his advanced age, more rapidly than during earlier periods of his life. Highly productive phases of recording for the ECMFind albums on this label label and lately for Blue NoteFind albums on this label are just exploding with creativity, vitality and aesthetic beauty, in complete disregard of his age, created often with musicians less than half his age. This album offers a highly melodic, almost romantic music, with some Bluesy tendencies, which features Lloyd playing floatingly, playfully and as always masterly, supported amicably by the guitar, played by Frisell, who records with him continuously since 2015, and the delicate bass lines by Morgan. Lloyd is undisputedly the main soloist and the lengthy tracks allow him to perform wave after wave of improvisation, which stays respectfully within the melodic and harmonic framework. It is pretty amazing to hear Lloyd in such superb form, which defies any speculations about aging musicians. His tone is still crystal clear, and the notes appear in a perfect flow, without the slightest hesitance, with the Master being in total control at all time. Overall, this is a beautiful piece of Jazz music, serene and lyrical, which flows gently and gracefully, as if time is of no substance. Of course all three albums in this series, although completely different from each other, are equally worthwhile and recommended.

Updated: 31/07/2024Posted: 31/07/2024

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CHARLES LLOYD ~ TRIOS: OCEAN BLUE NOTE 602445266814 (Barcode: 602445266814) ~ USA ~ Jazz Recorded: 2020 Released: 2022 This is the second album in the series of “Trio of Trios” albums by the legendary American Jazz saxophonist / flautist / composer / bandleader Charles LloydFind albums by this artist, recorded with pianist Gerald ClaytonFind albums by this artist and guitarist Anthony WilsonFind albums by this artist. The album presents four tracks, all composed by Lloyd. One of the true “last of the Mohicans” of American Jazz, Charles Lloyd (born in 1938), remains still at his full capacity and his recording legacy keeps growing, now at his advanced age, more rapidly than during earlier periods of his life. Highly productive phases of recording for the ECMFind albums on this label label and lately for Blue NoteFind albums on this label are just exploding with creativity, vitality and aesthetic beauty, in complete disregard of his age, created often with musicians less than half his age, like Clayton on this album. This album offers a highly melodic, almost romantic music, with some Bluesy tendencies, which features Lloyd playing floatingly, playfully and as always masterly, supported amicably mostly by the piano, with the guitar being less dominant on this album. Lloyd is undisputedly the main soloist and the lengthy tracks allow him to perform wave after wave of improvisation, which stays respectfully within the melodic and harmonic framework. Clayton, as usual, keeps close to the well paved mainstream trickery, while Wilson adds some beautiful melodic layers, but they both respectfully leave the center stage to the Guru. It is pretty amazing to hear Lloyd in such superb form, which defies any speculations about aging musicians. His tone is still crystal clear, and the notes appear in a perfect flow, without the slightest hesitance, with the Master being in total control at all time. Overall, this is a beautiful piece of Jazz music, serene and lyrical, which flows gently and gracefully, as if time is of no substance. Of course all three albums in this series, although completely different from each other, are equally worthwhile and recommended.

Updated: 31/07/2024Posted: 19/02/2024

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CHARLES LLOYD ~ TRIOS: SACRED THREAD BLUE NOTE 602445266876 (Barcode: 602445266876) ~ USA ~ Jazz-World Fusion Recorded: 2020 Released: 2022 This is the third album in the series of “Trio of Trios” albums by the legendary American Jazz saxophonist / flautist / composer / bandleader Charles LloydFind albums by this artist, recorded with Indian percussionist Zakir HussainFind albums by this artist and guitarist Julian LageFind albums by this artist. The album presents seven tracks, four composed by Lloyd and three by Hussein. One of the true “last of the Mohicans” of American Jazz, Charles Lloyd (born in 1938), remains still at his full capacity and his recording legacy keeps growing, now at his advanced age, more rapidly than during earlier periods of his life. Highly productive phases of recording for the ECMFind albums on this label labels and lately for Blue NoteFind albums by this artist are just exploding with creativity, vitality and aesthetic beauty, in complete disregard of his age, created often with musicians less than half his age, like Lage on this album. This album offers a highly spiritual music, mostly a Jazz-World Fusion oriented pieces, strongly influenced by Indian scales and rhythms, with strong presence of the masterly performances by Hussein, who plays a very central role in this trio. Listeners familiar with Hussein’s contribution to Jazz music over the year will be hardly surprised, but the album is certainly very different from what is usually expected from Lloyd, who plays mostly flute and tárogató (Hungarian wind instrument) and Hussain sings extensive vocal parts. Overall, this is a beautiful piece of Jazz-World Fusion music, serene and contemplative, which requires patience and open-mindedness, but is certainly highly rewarding. Of course all three albums in this series are equally worthwhile and recommended.

Updated: 18/01/2024Posted: 18/01/2024

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