Charles Lloyd - Forest Flower: Charles Lloyd at Monterey '1966 [2012]

Tracks list

Features 24 bit digital remastering. Comes with a description. When Charles
Lloyd brought his new band to Monterey in 1966, a band that included Keith
Jarrett on piano, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and the inimitable – though
young – Cecil McBee on bass, no one knew what to expect. But they all
left floored and this LP is the document of that set. It is difficult to believe
that, with players so young (and having been together under a year), Lloyd was
able to muster a progressive jazz that was so far-reaching and so undeniably
sophisticated, yet so rich and accessible. For starters, the opening two title
tracks, which form a kind of suite (one is Forest Flower-Sunrise, the other
Sunset), showcased the already fully developed imagination of Jarrett as a
pianist.

His interplay with DeJohnette – which has continued into the 21st century
in a trio with Gary Peacock – is remarkable: whispering arpeggios
surrounded by large chords that plank up the drumming as DeJohnette crosses
hands and cuts the time in order to fluctuate the time. Lloyds own solos are
demonstrative of his massive melodic gift: his improvisation skirted the edges
of what was happening with Coltrane (as everyones did), but his own sense of the
deep wellspring of song and the cross-pollination of various world musics that
were happening at the time kept him busy and lyrical. Elsewhere, on Jarretts own
Sorcery, his linking front-line harmonics with Lloyd is stellar – this
isnt communication, its telepathy! Jarretts angular solo is buoyed up by Lloyds
gorgeous ostinato phrasing. By the time the band reaches its final number, a
sky-scorching version of Brooks Bowmans East of the Sun, they have touched upon
virtually the entire history of jazz and still pushed it forward with seamless
aplomb. Forest Flower is a great live record.


Tracks:

01 - Forest Flower - Sunrise
02 - Forest Flower - Sunset
03 - Sorcery
04 - Song of Her
05 - East of the Sun

Personnel:

Charles Lloyd - tenor sax, flute
 - piano
Cecil McBee - bass
Jack DeJohnette - drums

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