Charles Lloyd (jazz musician)

Charles Lloyd (born March 15, 1938) is an American jazz musician. Though he primarily plays tenor saxophone and flute, he has occasionally recorded on other reed instruments, including alto saxophone and the Hungarian tárogató. Lloyd's band since 2007 includes pianist Jason Moran, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Eric Harland.

Charles Lloyd
Lloyd in 2014
Background information
Born (1938-03-15) March 15, 1938
Memphis, Tennessee, United States
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician
InstrumentsTenor saxophone, flute
Years active1959–present
LabelsAtlantic, Blue Note, Columbia, ECM, Pacific Arts
Associated actsCelebration
Websitewww.charleslloyd.com

Early years
Charles Lloyd at Russian River Jazz Festival, Guerneville, California, 1981
Charles Lloyd at Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2018

Charles Lloyd grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and was exposed to blues, gospel and jazz. He is of African, Cherokee, Mongolian, and Irish ancestry. He was given his first saxophone at the age of 9 and was riveted by 1940s radio broadcasts by Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington. His early teachers included pianist Phineas Newborn, Jr. and saxophonist Irvin Reason. His closest childhood friend was trumpeter Booker Little. As a teenager Lloyd played jazz with saxophonist George Coleman, Harold Mabern, and Frank Strozier, and was a sideman for Johnny Ace, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Howlin' Wolf and B.B. King.

In 1956, Lloyd left Memphis for Los Angeles to earn a degree in music at the University of Southern California, where he studied with Bartók specialist Halsey Stevens. At night, he played in jazz clubs with Ornette Coleman, Billy Higgins, Scott LaFaro, Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, Eric Dolphy, Bobby Hutcherson and other leading west coast jazz artists. He also was a member of the Gerald Wilson big band.

Professional career

In 1960 Lloyd was invited to become music director of Chico Hamilton's group when Eric Dolphy left to join Charles Mingus's band. The Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó, bassist Albert "Sparky" Stinson, and trombonist Charles Bohanan soon joined Lloyd in the band. Hamilton's albums on Impulse!, Passin' Thru and Man from Two Worlds, featured music arranged and written almost entirely by Lloyd. He collaborated with Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji, with whom he played when he wasn't on the road with Hamilton. He joined the Cannonball Adderley Sextet in 1964, and performed with Nat Adderley, Joe Zawinul, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes. For two years he remained with Cannonball Adderley, whom he credits in his own development as a leader.

In 1964 Lloyd signed with CBS Records and began to record as a leader. His Columbia recordings, Discovery! (1964), and Of Course, Of Course (1965), featured Roy Haynes and Tony Williams on drums, Richard Davis and Ron Carter on bass, Gabor Szabo on guitar and Don Friedman on piano, and led to his being voted Down Beat magazine's "New Star." He was also one of the well known and notable supporting musicians of The Beach Boys Live Performances. Of Course, Of Course was reissued on Mosaic Records in 2006.

Quartet

In New York in 1966, Lloyd formed a quartet with drummer Jack DeJohnette, pianist Keith Jarrett and bassist Cecil McBee. Their 1966 album Forest Flower was one of the most successful jazz recordings of the mid-1960s, building an audience of rock as well as jazz fans. The Quartet toured across America and Europe. In 1967, Lloyd was voted "Jazz Artist of the Year" by DownBeat.[1]

Lloyd is given credit for anticipating world music by incorporating music from other cultures into his compositions, as early as the late 1950s. He describes his music as having "danced on many shores".[2] Peter Watrous stated, "Lloyd has come up with a strange and beautiful distillation of the American experience, part abandoned and wild, part immensely controlled and sophisticated."[3]

Despite recording several albums during the 1970s and occasionally appearing as a sideman, he practically disappeared from the jazz scene. While practicing Transcendental Meditation in the 1970s, Lloyd played extensively with The Beach Boys, both on their studio recordings and as a member of their touring band; several members of the group shared his affinity for the technique. He also was a member of Celebration, a band consisting of members of the Beach Boys' touring band as well as Mike Love and Al Jardine. Celebration released two albums.[4][5]

Lloyd returned to the jazz world in 1981 when he toured with Michel Petrucciani. British jazz critic Brian Case called Lloyd's return "one of the events of the 1980s."[6] The group produced a special edition cassette, Night Blooming Jasmine, and two live records, Montreux 82 and A Night in Copenhagen, which also features Bobby McFerrin. After the tour, Lloyd again retreated to Big Sur.

In 1986, after being hospitalized with a nearly fatal medical condition, Lloyd rededicated himself to music. When he regained his strength in 1988 he formed a new quartet with Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson. When Lloyd returned to the Montreux Festival in 1988, Swiss critic Yvan Ischer wrote: "To see and hear Charles Lloyd in concert is always an event, not only because this saxophonist has been at quite a few crossroads, but also because he seems to hold an impalpable truth which makes him a thoroughly original musician...This is what we call grace."[2]

Recording for ECM

In 1989, Lloyd made his first recording for ECM Records, Fish Out of Water. Manfred Eicher, ECM's founder and producer, compared the recording to a Giacometti painting, saying, "I really believe this is the refined essence of what music should be. All the meat is gone, only the bones remain."[6] From 1989, Lloyd toured and recorded for ECM. Noteworthy albums include Canto, Voice in the Night, The Water Is Wide (featuring Brad Mehldau, John Abercrombie, Larry Grenadier and Billy Higgins), Lift Every Voice (featuring Geri Allen), and the live Rabo de Nube (with Jason Moran).

Lloyd's albums for ECM contain elements of world music and experimentation, as in the duets on Which Way Is East with his longtime friend, Billy Higgins.[7][8][9]

Mirror, his second recording with the New Quartet (2010), has been called a "Charles Lloyd classic." Rabo de Nube, also on ECM, captured the quartet "live" at its inception, and was voted No. 1 recording for the 2008 JazzTimes Reader's and Critic's Poll.[10]

Lloyd collaborated with the classical Greek singer, Maria Farantouri, for a concert at the Herodion Theater at the Acropolis. Ta Nea, a newspaper in Athens, stated "Music has no borders...The audience was filled with a Dionysian ecstasy. While the music had reminiscences of a Hypiros fair, at the same time it took you to the heart of New York City."[6] This concert was recorded and Athens Concert was released by ECM in 2011.[11]

Lloyd celebrated his 75th birthday in 2013 with concerts in the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum and the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.[12][13] On June 25, 2014 it was announced that Lloyd will receive the NEA Jazz Masters Award 2015.[14] Lloyd was the Honoree at the 2014 Monterey Jazz Festival Jazz Legends Gala, hosted by Herbie Hancock.[15] Lloyd was the recipient of the 2014 Alfa Jazz Fest International Music Award.[16] In January 2015, it was announced that Lloyd had signed with Blue Note Records. Wild Man Dance, a live recording of a long-form suite commissioned by the Jazztopad Festival in Wroclaw, Poland, was released in April 2015.[17] Lloyd was presented with an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the Berklee College of Music in a ceremony at the Umbria Jazz Festival in July 2015.[18] In 2016, Lloyd was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.[19]

Personal life

Lloyd lives in Southern California with his wife, Dorothy Darr.[20]

Discography
Charles Lloyd with Reuben Rogers and Eric Harland, Santa Barbara, 2006

As leader
Release date Title Label
1964 Discovery! Columbia
1965 Of Course, of Course Columbia
1968 Nirvana Columbia
1966 Dream Weaver Atlantic
1966 Forest Flower Atlantic
1966 The Flowering Atlantic
1966 Charles Lloyd in Europe Atlantic
1967 Love-In Atlantic
1967 Journey Within Atlantic
1967 Charles Lloyd in the Soviet Union Atlantic
1967 Charles Lloyd Quartet Montreux Jazz Festival 1967 – Swiss Radio Days 46 TCB Music - Released 2017
1968 Soundtrack Atlantic
1970 Moon Man Kapp
1971 Warm Waters Kapp
1972 Waves A&M
1973 Geeta A&M
1973 Morning Sunrise ADC
1978 Weavings Pacific Arts
1978 Koto (Same album as Pathless Path) ADC
1979 Pathless Path (Same album as Koto) Unity
1979 Big Sur Tapestry Pacific Arts
1979 Autumn in New York Destiny
1982 Montreux 82 Elektra/Musician
1983 A Night in Copenhagen Blue Note
1989 Fish Out of Water ECM
1992 Notes from Big Sur ECM
1993 Acoustic Masters I Atlantic
1993 The Call ECM
1994 All My Relations ECM
1996 Canto ECM
1999 Voice in the Night ECM
2000 The Water Is Wide ECM
2001 Hyperion with Higgins ECM
2002 Lift Every Voice ECM
2004 Which Way Is East ECM
2005 Jumping the Creek ECM
2006 Sangam ECM
2008 Rabo de Nube ECM
2010 Mirror ECM
2011 Athens Concert (with Maria Farantouri) ECM
2013 Hagar's Song (with Jason Moran) ECM
2014 Manhattan Stories Resonance
2015 Wild Man Dance Blue Note
2016 I Long to See You (with The Marvels) Blue Note
2017 Passin' Thru Blue Note
2018 Vanished Gardens (with The Marvels + Lucinda Williams) Blue Note
2020 8: Kindred Spirits (Live from the Lobero) Blue Note

As sideman
Release date Title Label Notes
With Cannonball Adderley
1964 Cannonball Adderley Live! Capitol
1964 Cannonball Adderley's Fiddler on the Roof Capitol
1991 Radio Nights Night/Virgin
With Canned Heat
1971 Historical Figures and Ancient Heads United Artists Appears on two tracks
With Celebration
1978 Almost Summer: Music from the Original Motion Picture MCA
1979 Celebration Pacific Arts
1979 Disco Celebration ADC
With Chico Hamilton
1960 Bye Bye Birdie-Irma La Douce Columbia
1960 The Chico Hamilton Special Columbia
1962 Drumfusion Columbia
1962 Transfusion Studio West
1962 Passin' Thru Impulse!
1963 A Different Journey Reprise
1964 Man from Two Worlds Impulse!
1965 Chic Chic Chico Impulse! Appears on only one track
With Mark Isham
1998 Afterglow: Music from the Motion Picture Columbia
With Harvey Mandel
1972 The Snake Janus Appears on only one track
With Les McCann
1961 Les McCann Sings Pacific Jazz Appears on four tracks
With Roger McGuinn
1973 Roger McGuinn Columbia Appears on two tracks
With Joe Sample
1995 Old Places, Old Faces Warner Bros. Appears on three tracks
With Gábor Szabó
1973 Gábor Szabó Live Blue Thumb Appears on only one track
With The Beach Boys
1971 Surf's Up Brother/Reprise Appears on only one track
1973 Holland Brother/Reprise
1976 15 Big Ones Brother/Reprise Appears on only one track
1978 M.I.U. Album Brother/Reprise
With The Doors
1972 Full Circle Elektra Appears on "Verdilac" and "The Piano Bird"
With William Truckaway
1976 Breakaway Reprise

Filmography
  • The Monk and the Mermaid - A documentary film by Fara C & Giuseppe De Vecchi - Oleo films - Forest Farm + Art - Mezzo TV - 2008
  • Arrows Into Infinity - A film by Dorothy Darr & Jeffery Morse - Forest Farm + Art - 2013

References
  1. "1967 Downbeat Readers Poll". DownBeat Magazine. December 31, 1967. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  2. Lloyd, Charles. "Biography" (PDF). Charleslloyd.com/. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  3. Watrous, Peter (June 22, 1992). "Review/Jazz Festival; Tribute to Coltrane from Charles Lloyd". New York Times.
  4. Kluck, Henk; Stubenrauch, Robert (2003). Dream Weaver: Charles Lloyd – His Life and Music. Thora Press. pp. 62, 70, 75–79. ISBN 90-9016658-0.
  5. "Video: The Beach Boys, "All This is That" live 1978". Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  6. "All About Jazz Musician Profile: Charles Lloyd". All About Jazz. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  7. Richardson, Derk (April 1, 2004). "A Jazz Love Affair / Charles Lloyd pays homage to Billy Higgins at the SF Jazz Fest Spring Season". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  8. Elwood, Philip (March 22, 2001). "Loving Tribute for Higgins / Emotional riffs by Sanders, Lloyd". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  9. Elwood, Philip (October 28, 1997). "Jazz Fest's Drum Summit". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
  10. "2008 Year in Review: Top 50 CDs". JazzTimes. January 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  11. "ECM Records Catalog". ECM Records Official Site. ECM Records. Archived from the original on April 24, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  12. "Charles Lloyd New Quartet and Friends at The Temple of Dendur". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  13. "Charles Lloyd Birthday Celebration". The Kennedy Center Official Website. The Kennedy Center. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  14. "NEA Announces Lifetime Honors Recipients | NEA". Arts.gov. June 25, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  15. "2015 Jazz Legends Gala | 58th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival – September 18 – 20, 2015". Montereyjazzfestival.org. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  16. "Фестиваль "Альфа Джаз"". Alfajazzfest.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  17. "CHARLES LLOYD SIGNS TO BLUE NOTE; RELEASES "WILD MAN DANCE" & RECEIVES NEA JAZZ MASTER AWARD IN APRIL". Blue Note Records. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  18. Keefe-Feldman, Mike. "Berklee, Umbria Jazz Festival Celebrate 30-Year Partnership". www.Berklee.edu. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  19. Shaw, Chris. "Memphis Music Hall of Fame Announces 2016 Inductees". Memphis Flyer. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  20. Woodard, Josef (June 2008). "Charles Lloyd". JazzTimes. Archived from the original on May 23, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
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