CHARLES LLOYD ‘8: Kindred Spirits’ CD/DVD

$54.00 Inc GST

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Description

American bandleader Charles Lloyd has matched his wistful tenor sax and spiritual, multi-instrumental musings with dream-team rhythm sections for more than half a century. His breakthrough album, Dream Weaver, released on Atlantic in 1966, featured pianist Keith Jarrett and the tradition continued with the band he assembled to celebrate his 80th birthday in 2018. The one-off concert included classic tracks alongside recent releases, organist Booker T Jones was a guest and bassist and Blue Note president Don Was joined in.

The two disc recording opens with a 20-minute reconstruction of “Dream Weaver”, and jaunty flute showcase “Sombrero Sam” from the same 1966 album appears later in the set. “Requiem”, a spiritual Lloyd staple, comes next, and then the bolero-inflected “La Llorona”, from his 2016 Charles Lloyd and the Marvels album, I Long To See You. Lloyd and his band then stretch out on old songs and new. Booker T’s “Green Onions” gets a loose-limbed cover, “Shenandoah” is re-cast as Southern soul, and the concert ends with the ballad sunshine of “You Are So Beautiful”. Lloyd, revelling in his band’s instant rapport, plays like a man possessed, guitarist Julian Lage’s stinging lead and atmospheric Americana stand out, and Eric Harland is a force of nature on drums; pianist Gerald Clayton is commanding.