“Love Longing Loss”: At Home with Charles Lloyd During Isolation

New Film Commissioned by the Pierre Boulez Saal to Premiere on May 11
 
The Pierre Boulez Saal is premiering exclusively on its website a film documenting a year in the life of jazz musician Charles Lloyd during the Covid-19 pandemic. Commissioned by the Pierre Boulez Saal after the corona-related cancellation of two concerts in the hall, Lloyd’s wife, painter and video artist Dorothy Darr, set about creating a film portrait of the artist, documenting the time spent in isolation at the couple’s home in Santa Barbara, California. Shot over the course of several months using iPhone and Lumix cameras as well as a portable Zoom recorder, the film presents a world of Lloyd’s musical compositions, intertwined with his reflections on solitude, resistance, and ancestry. The film project is part of the immediate-action program for corona-related investments in cultural venues, NEUSTART KULTUR, by the German Federal Government. The film will be made available to music lovers around the world for free streaming from May 11 to June 11.
 

In “Love Longing Loss,” Charles Lloyd shares early memories of listening to and playing music, as well as stories about the struggle of his ancestors in fighting for liberty and freedom. These insights are interwoven with musical passages, including new compositions and classics, in which Lloyd performs on saxophone, piano, flute, and tárogató. With Lloyd describing his personal journey as “swimming away with my stories and ancestors,” the film is an invitation to connect and make peace with our own experiences and troubles. It is also a statement and a reaction to the difficult times each one of us has been going through during lockdown and the Covid-19 crisis while at the same time offering a warm ray of hope for the weeks and months to come.

­Saxophone virtuoso Charles Lloyd has a legendary history in jazz as well as non-Western musical styles. He was influenced by the rich culture and musical heritage of his hometown Memphis, which is saturated in blues, gospel, and jazz. With an inspiring and creative history of recording albums and collaborating with the likes of Keith Jarrett, Jason Moran, B. B. King, Bill Frisell, The Beach Boys, Maria Farantouri, Geri Allen, Willie Nelson, Norah Jones, Michel Petrucciani, Zakir Hussain, and Bobby McFerrin, Charles Lloyd has been awarded numerous prestigious prizes such as the NEA Jazz Masters Award or the honor of “Chevalier des Arts et Lettres” by the French Minister of Culture. After his highly successful debut in November 2019 at the Pierre Boulez Saal, he was supposed to return for two concerts in December 2020 that fell victim to the Covid-19 pandemic.

WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY AT THIS LINKhttps://boulezsaal.de/charles-lloyd-love-longing-loss