Charles Lloyd - Quartets 1989-1996 '2013

Tracks list

Saxophonist and composer Charles Lloyd is a perfect candidate for ECMs Old and
New Masters box set series. He is an enigmatic bandleader, soloist, and composer
who has spent extended periods off the scene. Lloyd left the public sphere in
1969 after selling millions of records, touring the world numerous times,
playing rock festivals and concert halls. He briefly re-emerged in the early 80s
with pianist Michel Petrucciani, but reentered a life of meditation and study.
These five albums, beginning with 1990s Fish Out of Water, mark the beginning of
his permanent return to jazz. Hed obviously kept up his chops during his
silence; he emerged on these dates with a new, more intuitive lyricism, steeped
in blues and Eastern tonalities and modalities, and a fresh approach to
improvisation that included a rich display of the tenor (and flute) traditions.
These five albums also tell another story, that of the musical partnership with
pianist Bobo Stenson, whose participation on these recordings is as essential as
Lloyds. Stensons trio recordings and session work revealed him early on to be a
brilliant soloist with a highly individual, crystalline voice, and as a
consummate ensemble player. Fish Out of Water also features bassist Palle
Danielsson and drummer Jon Christensen. Both appear only on this disc. Bassist
Anders Jormin joins the band on 1991s Notes from Big Sur and plays on the
remainder of these recordings. Drummer Ralph Peterson seems an odd choice for
this second ensemble and wasnt nearly as a seamlessly integrated into Lloyds
sound as Christensen, although he does add a swinging tension and driving
physicality to many of these tunes, Sam Song and the two-part Pilgrimage to the
Mountain in particular. Veteran drummer Billy Hart joined the band for 1993s The
Call and plays on the final three albums here. From the entry of his elliptical,
ticking cymbals on Nocturne, it feels as if all the quartets roles are properly
balanced. The interplay between Hart and Jormin is symbiotic, complementary,
full of compelling ideas. Stensons colorful, limpid textures create a complete
rhythm section that not only plays with Lloyd, but co-creates with him. Together
they cemented and grew out that quartet relationship on 1994s fine All My
Relations, and brought it to culmination on the stellar, deeply moving Canto
from 1996. These five recordings mark not the tentative return of a jazzman to
recording, but the first new statements by a true master who has brought only a
trace of his earlier voice into the new one. His latter tone is more mercurial,
spacious, inquisitive rather than declamatory; it is nimbler and far more
emotional, as displayed on all 39 of the original compositions that appear here.
This is a truly worthy box for those who discovered -- or rediscovered -- Lloyd
only in the 21st century; they are all essential parts of his mature catalog.


Tracks:

CD1 - Fish Out of Water (1989)

01. Fish Out of Water (Lloyd) - 9:24
02. Haghia Sophia (Lloyd) - 7:30
03. The Dirge (Lloyd) - 10:15
04. Bharati (Lloyd) - 8:28
05. Eyes of Love (Lloyd) - 8:37
06. Mirror (Lloyd) - 9:34
07. Tellaro (Lloyd) - 4:02

Charles Lloyd - tenor saxophone, flute
Bobo Stenson - piano
Palle Danielsson - double bass
Jon Christensen - drums


CD2 - Notes from Big Sur (1991)

01. Requiem (Lloyd) - 8:01
02. Sister (Lloyd) - 8:51
03. Pilgrimage to the Mountain, Part 1: Persevere (Lloyd) - 7:23
04. Sam Song (Lloyd) - 7:54
05. Takur (Lloyd) - 4:28
06. Monk in Paris (Lloyd) - 9:38
07. When Miss Jessye Sings (Lloyd) - 9:56
08. Pilgrimage to the Mountain, Part 2: Surrender (Lloyd) - 4:32

Charles Lloyd - tenor saxophone
Bobo Stenson - piano
Anders Jormin - double bass
Ralph Peterson - drums


CD3 - The Call (1993)

01. Nocturne (Lloyd) - 5:24
02. Song (Lloyd) - 12:45
03. Dwija (Lloyd) - 6:47
04. Glimpse (Lloyd) - 8:33
05. Imke (Lloyd) - 3:56
06. Amarma (Lloyd) - 7:18
07. Figure in Blue, Memories of Duke (Lloyd) - 9:26
08. The Blessing (Lloyd) - 10:55
09. Brother on the Rooftop (Lloyd) - 11:59

Charles Lloyd - tenor saxophone
Bobo Stenson - piano
Anders Jormin - double bass
Billy Hart - drums


CD4 - All My Relations (1994)

01. Piercing the Veil (Lloyd) - 8:32
02. Little Peace (Lloyd) - 6:36
03. Thelonious Theonlyus (Lloyd) - 7:49
04. Cape to Cairo Suite (Hommage to Mandela) (Lloyd) - 15:26
05. Evanstide, Where Lotus Bloom (Lloyd) - 10:56
06. All My Relations (Lloyd) - 10:55
07. Hymne to the Mother (Lloyd) - 8:39
08. Milarepa (Lloyd) - 1:20

Charles Lloyd - tenor saxophone, flute, Chinese oboe
Bobo Stenson - piano
Anders Jormin - double bass
Billy Hart - drums


CD5 - Canto (1996)

01. Tales of Rumi (Lloyd) - 16:41
02. How Can I Tell You (Lloyd) - 6:18
03. Desolation Sound (Lloyd) - 6:05
04. Canto (Lloyd) - 13:21
05. Nachiketas Lament (Lloyd) - 6:19
06. M (Lloyd) - 13:13
07. Durga Durga (Lloyd) - 3:20

Charles Lloyd - tenor saxophone, Tibetan oboe
Bobo Stenson - piano
Anders Jormin - double bass
Billy Hart - drums

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