Charles Lloyd – Trios: Ocean (Live) (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 41:23 minutes | 661 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Blue Note Records
Charles Lloyd has long been a free spirit, master musician, and visionary. For more than six decades the legendary saxophonist and composer has loomed large over the music world, and at 84 years old he remains at the height of his powers and as prolific as ever. Early on Lloyd saw how placing the improvised solo in interesting and original contexts could provoke greater freedom of expression and inspire creativity, and throughout his remarkable career he has searched for alternative ways to frame his improvisational skills. As a sound seeker, Lloyd’s restless creativity has perhaps found no greater manifestation than on his 2022 masterwork, an expansive project that encompasses three albums with an overarching theme, each presenting him in a different trio setting – a Trio of Trios. The first album, ‘Trios: Chapel’, features guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Thomas Morgan. The second, ‘Trios: Ocean’, features guitarist Anthony Wilson and pianist Gerald Clayton. ‘The third, Trios: Sacred Thread’, features guitarist Julian Lage and percussionist Zakir Hussain.
Following on from Trios: Chapel, recorded in 2018 with Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan, Charles Lloyd presents Trios: Ocean, the second instalment of his ambitious trilogy of trios—and it’s nothing less than a masterpiece! This album was recorded live (without an audience) in September 2020 during a concert in the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, California in the middle of lockdown. It’s characterised by a perpetual sense of serenity and freedom and serves not only as a profoundly moving ‘snapshot’ of Lloyd at this moment in his life and career, but also as a summary of the subjects of his musical explorations which, for the most part, reacquaint him with the origins of his vocation.
Accompanied this time by Gerald Clayton on piano (his touring companion for almost ten years) and Anthony Wilson on guitar (a subtle musician who’s at ease with all types of Americana and implements a particularly relevant orchestral rendering of his instrument here), Charles Lloyd dives into his instrument with a mixture of voluptuous sensuality and inimitable depth – these four long original compositions are the result. He imbues his sound with plenty of nuance, both in terms of colour and texture, passing from tenor saxophone (‘Lonely One’, ‘Kuan Yin’) to alto flute (‘Jamarillo Blues’) and even alto saxophone (‘Hagar of the Inuits’). Lloyd journeys through familiar territory without ever surrendering to nostalgia or formal revivalism. Whether he’s resurrecting the ghost of Ornette Coleman with his alto phrasing, colouring his improvisations with oriental melismas, or revisiting the Delta blues with the fragile and ethereal sounds of the alto flute, Charles Lloyd never does the same thing twice. Invigorated by his two fellow musicians, his insatiable curiosity is constantly opening up new artistic doors. – Stéphane Ollivier
Tracklist:
1-01. Charles Lloyd – The Lonely One (Live) (12:18)
1-02. Charles Lloyd – Hagar of the Inuits (Live) (08:53)
1-03. Charles Lloyd – Jaramillo Blues (For Virginia Jaramillo and Danny Johnson) (Live) (10:03)
1-04. Charles Lloyd – Kuan Yin (Live) (10:07)
