Charles Lloyd performs as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival TATIANA GORILOVSKY / EFG LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL
★★★★★ Here was an evening that reflected the span of the sprawling EFG London Jazz Festival.Headlining was Charles Lloyd, a venerable saxophonistwho has led many musical lives: teenage sideman to BB King; million-seller with Keith Jarrett in his band; a jazz dropout phase gigging with the Beach Boy; and eventually a triumphant return as elder statesman.
In support were Nérija, a mostly female septet, featuring the talents of a new wave of London players, among them Cassie Kinoshi on alto sax, Sheila Maurice-Grey on trumpet, and Shirley Tetteh on guitar…But to cite the evening as a kind of generational face-off would be misleading. First, Lloyd may be 83, but surrounded by younger players, his music remains forward-looking…
“Jazz, at its very roots, is a music created, developed and shaped by Black culture. The EFG London Jazz Festival has worked for years to promote cultural diversity and opportunity, but we know that there remains much more to be done.
We are listening, learning and supporting, and hope that our Festival programme this year, despite global challenges, represents the diverse society in which we live and the range of people who form the backbone of our music.
Moving forward, we will try our best to be self-aware, to challenge ourselves at every turn and to actively push for positive change.”
“We played the Royal Albert Hall in 1964,” saysCharles Lloyd, recollecting his first ever UK performance. “Packed it to the rafters.” He was 26, playing tenor saxophone in Cannonball Adderley’s majestic band and getting his first taste of a world beyond US jazz and blues clubs. “I’m looking forward to returning,” says Lloyd of this weekend’s appearance at the EFG London jazz festival.
Now 83, he speaks in a drawl that mixes jazz argot and spiritual entreaties – he says he spent the pandemic “building steps”, meaning to a higher plane rather than a DIY project – and is raring to re-engage with an audience. “I’ve been playing in front of audiences since I was nine. Been a professional musician since I was 12. It’s what I do.”
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Charles Lloyd – Arrows Into Infinity
A Film byDorothy Darrand Jeffrey Morse
Arrows Into Infinitychronicles the arc of an improviser’s still-unfolding life, moving through time with memories, archive footage and music, lots of music. Charles Lloyd’s story is a special one, and it intersects with important moments in jazz history. Lloyd grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, and had early contact both to masters of an increasingly sophisticated jazz tradition and the raw voices of the blues. Booker Little was a childhood friend, Phineas Newborn a mentor. In his teens Lloyd hit the road with Howlin’ Wolf. He befriended Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry and Billy Higgins in a period when blueprints for musical freedom were redrawn, and replaced Eric Dolphy in Chico Hamilton’s band, soon building a reputation as an exceptional saxophonist and a composer of strikingly original melodies. His own groups drew together some of the most exciting players of the day, and his late 60s quartet with Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette made an impact at many levels, playing opposite Hendrix and Janis Joplin at the Fillmore Auditorium, touring Europe’s festivals to great acclaim, making a now-legendary foray into the Soviet Union, and selling a million copies of their Forest Flower album, a massive FM radio hit. Then Charles Lloyd retreated from the limelight, preferring to play his flute in the mountain forests of Big Sur. For almost two decades sightings of him in jazz contexts were rare. A tentative return to public service was made in the company of pianist Michel Petrucciani; the 1989 ECM recording Fish Out Of Water, with Bobo Stenson, Palle Danielsson and Jon Christensen signaled a new beginning. Since then Lloyd has led a succession of outstanding bands including the recent quartet with Jason Moran, Reuben Rogers and Eric Harland and the Sangam trio with Harland and Zakir Hussain. These musicians contribute their thoughts about Charles Lloyd’s work to this remarkable documentary – as do Herbie Hancock, Ornette Coleman, Robbie Robertson, Jack DeJohnette, Don Was, John Densmore, Jim Keltner, Geri Allen, Larry Grenadier, Alicia Hall Moran, Stanley Crouch, Manfred Eicher, Michael Cuscuna, Arthur Monroe and Ayuko Babu. Arrows Into Infinity is available in DVD and Blu-ray formats. Running time 113 minutes. Subtitles in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian.
Author Tara Brachis a skilled psychotherapist and meditation teacher who has developed countless ways to help her students transform their suffering not only for their own sake but on behalf of the world. Over the last seventeen years she has focused particularly on theRAIN meditation practice, which “cultivates a trust in our own basic goodness and by extension helps us recognize and trust that same light shining through all beings.”Brach suggests:
When you are caught in difficult emotions, the RAIN meditation can bring you back to a wise and compassionate presence.
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Give yourself a few moments to pause and turn inward.
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R Recognize
what is happening. Mentally whisper whatever you are aware of: fear, anger, hurt, shame.
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A Allow.
Let whatever you are feeling be here, without judging it, trying to fix it, or ignoring it. Simply pause and “let be.” You might whisper “This too belongs.”
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I Investigate.
With curiosity, feel into your body—your throat, chest, belly. Discover where the emotions live inside you. You might gently place a hand wherever feelings are strongest. Sense what is needed or being asked for right now. Is it love? Forgiveness? Acceptance? Understanding?
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N Nurture.
Offer care to feelings of vulnerability, hurt, or fear. Let the touch of your hand be tender, and send whatever message might most offer healing. You can imagine this coming from your own awake heart or from another being (friend, grandparent, spiritual figure, dog) you trust and love.
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After the RAIN:
Take some moments in stillness, simply sensing the quality of presence that has unfolded. Notice the shift from when you started (an angry or fearful or victimized self) to the compassionate awareness that is always here.
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For further information, please click on link below:
CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 