Charles Lloyd – Sky Quartet

One of the greatest living legends of jazz—and one of the most important and influential saxophonists in the history of the genre—celebrated his eighty-seventh birthday this March. Charles Lloyd has, over the course of his career, traversed virtually the entire history of jazz, beginning in the early 1950s when he first stepped onto the professional scene.

The Memphis native’s bloodline is a mix of African, Native American, Mongolian, and Irish heritage. However, it was the African American roots that prevailed, and Charles Lloyd began his musical journey with the best foundation: the blues. And not just any blues—early in his career, he accompanied such legendary blues singers as Howlin’ Wolf, B.B. King, and Bobby “Blue” Bland. In 1956, he moved to Los Angeles, where he absorbed the art of musicianship and “the jazz life” from figures like Ornette Coleman, Billy Higgins, Don Cherry, and Eric Dolphy.

In the mid-1960s, he formed his famous quartet featuring Keith Jarrett (piano), Cecil McBee (double bass), and Jack DeJohnette (drums), and found success with the album Dream Weaver. The real breakthrough came with the release of Forest Flower: Live at Monterey (1966), an album considered one of the most significant jazz recordings of the decade. It was among the first jazz albums to sell over a million copies and to be played on mainstream radio stations. Charles Lloyd became, in effect, a pop star of the “Summer of Love,” sharing stages with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Cream, the Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane. In 1967, he even toured behind the Iron Curtain, performing at Prague’s Lucerna Hall. Reflecting on that concert, Charles Lloyd later said:
“I remember that time as an incredibly fragile balance between the people and the ruling powers. Music was like a magnet, a signal calling for freedom. It was, in a way, an expression of a claim to freedom. I think because we ourselves head toward freedom each night on our explorations into the world of music, people feel it directly, heart to heart.”

At the peak of his career in the early 1970s, however, Charles Lloyd disbanded his group and withdrew from the wild lifestyle of the music industry to settle in Big Sur, California. He ventured out only occasionally for guest recordings, including contributing to four late-period albums by the rock group The Beach Boys. Lloyd fully returned to the scene more than a decade later with a new group featuring the young, soon-to-be-famous French pianist Michel Petrucciani. After two live albums and one cassette, Lloyd once again retreated to Big Sur, devoting his time to meditation and the study of Indian philosophy. His music has always reflected a leaning toward Eastern musical thinking, deeply connected to his spiritual orientation—often noted as a continuation of the path set by another jazz giant, John Coltrane.

Charles Lloyd’s lasting return to music came in 1988 with a new quartet featuring the gifted Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson. Signing with the iconic Munich label ECM, Lloyd remained loyal to it until 2013. Two years later, he joined the equally prestigious Blue Note label, producing a series of fascinating projects—such as The Marvels featuring country singer Lucinda Williams, offering a unique vision of modern Americana, and a trilogy of trio recordings, each with a different star-studded lineup (including Bill Frisell, Gerald Clayton, and Julian Lage).

His most recent album, The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow, was released in March last year, recorded with an all-star quartet featuring pianist Jason Moran, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Brian Blade. The album received an extraordinary score of 95 out of 100 on Metacritic, a site that aggregates reviews from critics—an excellent invitation to his upcoming concert in Brno. And indeed, Lloyd will appear in a very similar lineup at JazzFestBrno, with one change: behind the drums, the equally brilliant Eric Harland will take the place of Brian Blade.