Charles Lloyd MIRROR

[ghost of miles]

With the Moran-Rogers-Harland band:

Mirror

[AllenLowe]

I keep going through the internet trying to find a complete, contemporary Lloyd performance, and all I find are bits and pieces - but then it occurs to me that these bits and pieces may actually be the way he plays now - sorta like hip-trane-muzak. Still, I wonder, does anyone else get this impression? Anyone seen him in actual performance?

[tranemonk]

I have (although it's been a few years..). I like his music a lot and his live performances do have a hip trane like aspect to it... Although I would definitely NOT put it in the muzak category.... :blink:

He's headed back over here in late January and I'll be going... IMHO there's a serenity in his playing (live and on record)... that I don't find in most performers....

I keep going through the internet trying to find a complete, contemporary Lloyd performance, and all I find are bits and pieces - but then it occurs to me that these bits and pieces may actually be the way he plays now - sorta like hip-trane-muzak. Still, I wonder, does anyone else get this impression? Anyone seen him in actual performance?

[AllenLowe]

I just keep waiting for him to start playing. It's like a repeater pencil.

of course, I am probably in the minority here.

[jlhoots]

Saw this band live approx. 2 1/2 years ago.

They were excellent.

I'm looking forward to this new studio CD.

[Guy Berger]

I just keep waiting for him to start playing. It's like a repeater pencil.

of course, I am probably in the minority here.

Sometimes Lloyd can be painfully diffuse as a player. Sometimes he isn't. I feel like, as a player, he peaked in the late 80s through mid 90s.

Guy

[AllenLowe]

one of the first records I ever owned was his from the Fillmore, with Keith Jarrett, I think - and I was much more interested in Jarrett.

though I was quite young at the time (maybe 15) I remember thinking, 'hmmm, a little Trane, a little Getz. But not enough of either."

Edited September 1, 2010 by AllenLowe

[king ubu]

Yeah... I can relate to what you're writing, Allen. Some of his ECMs are quite good though (I have "Canto", and the more recent "Jumping the Creek" where he plays alto also was a pleasant find).

I've seen him in concert in 2001 (I think) with Abercrombie, Johnson and Hart, and it was pretty good, but yes, he's kind of playing Trane for the people...

I talked myself into liking the band with Jarrett about fifteen years ago when I first heard it (and was still a Jarrett fan), but upon recent revisits, I found it rather boring (I have "In Europe" and the Collectables twofer with "Soundtrack" and "In the Soviet Union"... guess I ought to give "Dream Weaver" a chance, once had the LP from a friend, around that time, fifteen years ago).

I kind of like him with Cannonball and Chico Hamilton though - but then those both were excellent bands (the Hamilton with Bohannon, Szabo, Stinson!) and I'm not sure how much of a contribution Llyod actually makes the them, would have to re-listen (and I think with Cannonball I only have him on that "Fiddler on the Roof", which is kind of a weird/inessential concept thingie).

[sidewinder]

He was on form the time I saw him with quartet with Jason Moran a few years ago at Cheltenham. A thoroughly impressive concert !

[Guy Berger]

Yeah... I can relate to what you're writing, Allen. Some of his ECMs are quite good though (I have "Canto", and the more recent "Jumping the Creek" where he plays alto also was a pleasant find).

I've seen him in concert in 2001 (I think) with Abercrombie, Johnson and Hart, and it was pretty good, but yes, he's kind of playing Trane for the people...

I talked myself into liking the band with Jarrett about fifteen years ago when I first heard it (and was still a Jarrett fan), but upon recent revisits, I found it rather boring (I have "In Europe" and the Collectables twofer with "Soundtrack" and "In the Soviet Union"... guess I ought to give "Dream Weaver" a chance, once had the LP from a friend, around that time, fifteen years ago).

I kind of like him with Cannonball and Chico Hamilton though - but then those both were excellent bands (the Hamilton with Bohannon, Szabo, Stinson!) and I'm not sure how much of a contribution Llyod actually makes the them, would have to re-listen (and I think with Cannonball I only have him on that "Fiddler on the Roof", which is kind of a weird/inessential concept thingie).

Dream Weaver is the best of the lot (for the quartet with Jarrett), Soundtrack the weakest. I don't think that band shows the best Lloyd is/was capable of.

Edited September 1, 2010 by Guy

[JSngry]

He "came to fame" 40-45 years ago. That's a long time, and his playing has deepened since then.

How much is for each listener to decide, but geez, forming an opinion of 2010 Lloyd based on 1965 Lloyd is...whatever. The guy's disappeared, gotten rich on real estate, gotten lost in TM, and then came back to pretty much start over, and even that was 30 years ago!

[AllenLowe]

well, no, I'm listening to his current output. It's got possibilities but never quite gets where I think it's trying to get.

[JSngry]

Maybe it's there, but it's not someplace you want to go.

I mean, the thing I've always dug about Lloyd is his tone (on tenor only, btw). Gorgeous then, and even more gorgeous now. But the rest of it, mostly? I gotta be in the mood, and even then, nice place to visit, etc. But he's miles beyond now where he was in his "star" days.

[Guy Berger]

I kind of like him with Cannonball and Chico Hamilton though - but then those both were excellent bands (the Hamilton with Bohannon, Szabo, Stinson!) and I'm not sure how much of a contribution Llyod actually makes the them, would have to re-listen (and I think with Cannonball I only have him on that "Fiddler on the Roof", which is kind of a weird/inessential concept thingie).

I would disagree about Fiddler on the Roof being inessential - it's one of Cannonball's best non-live albums. Some great playing and arrangements on that one.

Guy