For one unfamiliar with Charles Lloyd’s illustrious discography, an octogenarian NEA Jazz Master may seem like an odd focal point for a site focused on music that pushes beyond categorical lines. However, the saxophonist has spent his entire career defying convention. From his early sideman recordings with Chico Hamilton to his more recent Marvels group, he has refused to produce art that can be concisely boxed into any form. 8: Kindred Spirits (Live from the Lobero) perfectly surveys this nature of his work.
The album captures a live concert on his 80th birthday at the Lobero Theater in his hometown of Santa Barbara, California. The venue itself has special importance to the bandleader as he has performed there more than any other locale. Additionally, opera legend and barrier defying Marian Anderson, one of his idols, also sang at the theater almost seventy years prior. The emotional significance of the occasion is apparent throughout the album’s electric and spell-binding pieces. Technically speaking, most of the songs presented are themselves not new. From “Sombrero Sam” off of Dreamweaver (Atlantic Records, 1966) to “Part 5, Ruminations” from Passin’ Thru (Blue Note Records, 2017), the concert is an anthology of sorts of his original compositions over nearly half a century. While a less refined artist may become mired in the past under such circumstances, Lloyd instead effectively jumps back and forth through time. The end result accents what makes his music unique while also showcasing possible future avenues of exploration.
The first trend apparent in the recording is his inspiration by music from various cultures’ folk music. This aspect of his work has been long established. His duets with drummer Billy Higgins on Which Way is East (ECM Records, 2001) pulled equally from the music of Tibet, Syria, Senegal, India, Guinea, and the Sub-Saharan Gnawa people. Canto (ECM Records, 1996) was deeply inspired by Middle Eastern and various Asian musical forms. His Sangam (ECM Records, 2004) trio, with Eric Harland and tabla master Zakir Hussain, drew from India. The Athens Concert (ECM Records, 2010) and Wild Man Dance (Blue Note Records, 2015) explored the depths of Greek and Hungarian music.
On 8: Kindred Spirits, he revisits Mexican folk music on “La Llorona.” Although his third released version of the song in the past decade, it is also his strongest. Developing from Gerald Clayton’s pensive piano solo to a spirited, yet melancholic, march before turning to an extended tenor sax solo. In many ways, it showcases the power of music to transcend traditional conventions as it can easily lead one to imagine a guitar-strumming caballero sitting in the countryside singing of a crying woman despite the instrument’s subdued role in this presentation. Similarly, he provides versions of the old hymn “Abide with Me” and “Shenandoah.” The latter is particularly poignant as it originated in rural America before becoming a sea shanty which, like Lloyd’s musical interests themselves, transversed the globe.
The second trend through Lloyd’s work is the adoption of approaches from modern popular music. In some regards, he can be seen as a 1960’s analogue to the 2010’s Kamasi Washington, both appealing to those outside of the conventional jazz realm. While the latter attracted hip-hop heads, the former spoke to the “flower children.” Early in his career, he opened for, and recorded with, several rock bands including the Doors, Canned Heat, and the Beach Boys. In turn, these performances also influenced his own music. While he generally avoided the pyrotechnics typically associated with jazz-rock hybrids of the ’60s and ’70s, he nonetheless adopted rock’s sentimentality. Forest Flower (Atlantic Records, 1966) – featuring fellow future heavyweights Keith Jarrett, Jack Dejohnette, and Cecil McBee – purportedly became the first jazz LP to sell over a million copies by crafting a sound which could be better understood by the youthful generation of the era. More recently, Vanished Gardens with Lucinda Williams absorbed the influences of the country, Americana, rock, and the blues.
Interestingly, 8: Kindred Spirits consolidates the three pieces most influenced by more modern musical forms to the end of the album. The first is a fascinating version of “Green Onions” with organist Booker T. Jones, who penned it back in 1962 for his group Booker T. & MGs. Although both Lloyd and Jones grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, this concert marks their first time playing together. Further adding to the curiosity of the track is the special appearance by the record label’s president, Don Was on bass. In the abstract, the track is a bit out of place with the rest of the recording but an interesting and welcome addition nonetheless. The other two tracks are a delightful version of Forest Flower’s title track and the closer, Billy Preston’s “You Are So Beautiful.”
Further emphasizing his travels through both time and sound, Lloyd is joined by a cadre of musicians with differing relationships to him and his music. At one end is the first time collaboration alluded to above. At the other are Harland and bassist Reuben Rogers with whom he has performed for over a decade. Staking out the middle ground are Clayton and guitarist Julian Lage.
In all, 8: Kindred Spirits is a delightful reminder to listeners that looking back in retrospect isn’t necessarily a bad idea. To the most brilliant artists, sometimes it is only by reflecting on the past that one can forge a clearer path into the future.
Track list: 1. Dream Weaver; 2. Requiem; 3. La Llorona; 4. Part5, Ruminations; 5. Abide; 6. A Song for Charles; 7. Island Blues; 8. Shenandoah; 9. Sombrero Sam; 10. Green Onions; 11. Forest Flower; 12. You Are So Beautiful.
Personnel: Charles Lloyd (Tenor Saxophone and Flute), Julian Lage (Guitar), Eric Harland (Drums), Reuben Rogers (Bass), Gerald Clayton (Piano (1-4, 11,12)), Booker T. Jones (Organ (5, 7-12), Piano and Vocals (6)), Don Was (Bass (9 and 10).)
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