Jazz concert review: Charles Lloyd New Quartet at the Dakota

When: Sept. 30, 2010, second set • Where: Dakota • Who: Charles Lloyd, tenor saxophone; Jason Moran, piano; Reuben Rogers, bass; Eric Harland, drums

He knows bliss in the Atman

And wants nothing else.

Cravings torment the heart:

He renounces cravings.

I call him illumined.

Not shaken by adversity,

Not hankering after happiness:

Free from fear, free from anger,

Free from the things of desire.

I call him a seer, and illumined.

For the final song in last night’s second set at the Dakota, Charles Lloyd pulled up a piano bench beside Jason Moran’s chair, brought the mic close, and quoted a lengthy section from Christopher Isherwood’s translation of the Bhagavad Gita from memory (portions above). It made perfect sense in an evening of musical meditation.

Over the years, I’ve seen Lloyd several times—at the old and new Dakota; at the 2006 Monterey Jazz Festival; at UC Santa Cruz, where I traveled last December for a conference on improvisational music, in part because I knew he would be there. But I’ve never seen a performance as subtle, understated, and nuanced as last night’s.

Lloyd and the other members of his quartet—newly minted MacArthur fellow Moran on piano, Reuben Rogers on bass, Eric Harland on drums—filled the room with music and a profound, almost ethereal calm. They played a lot of notes, often very quickly—Lloyd can take the first phrase of “Monk’s Mood,” for example, just 12 notes, and turn it into dozens more—but without urgency or excess. Early in the set, a thought came to mind: When you speak quietly, people lean in to listen. I have rarely heard the Dakota as quiet as it was during this performance.

Lloyd would play, then sit at the side of the piano while his trio played, surrounded by their music, their communication and interplay, like the eye of a storm. He gave them a lot of room, and why not? Each is an artist of depth and inventiveness. What drummer plays a lengthy solo during the first song of a set? Harland did, interspersing feathery rimshots with pops and thuds. Rogers’s beautiful solos on the acoustic bass hummed and sang. Even Moran, the restless young innovator whose music can be full of sharp turns and edges, seemed centered in stillness. His solos were delicate and restrained, while his comping was almost a whisper, one you leaned in to hear.

When Lloyd played, each passage was a torrent of ideas, a saxophonic language with words you understood not in your head but in whatever you want to call it—your heart, your spirit, your soul. (For this set, he played just the tenor sax, no flute or Tibetan oboe.) The only spoken words were those from the Bhagavad Gita, the sacred “song of God,” during which Harland hummed like a Tibetan monk, rumbly and low.

Lloyd wrote on his website: “Music is a healing force. It has the ability to transcend boundaries, it can touch the heart directly, it can speak to a depth of the spirit where no words are needed.” That’s what I felt. Others did, too. I heard it in conversations after the show, read it in emails and postings later. People were moved by this experience, and uplifted. It’s rare these days to feel uplifted and not wonder later if you’ve been manipulated or gulled. So much popular music is about packaging, branding, and gloss. This was the real thing, ravishing and rapturous, neither entertainment nor diversion but something more substantial: spirituality, emotion, gift. It was the jazz version of an audience with a great teacher. The church of Charles Lloyd. After which, incredibly, he thanked us.

Here's what we heard in the 90-minute second set:

“New Blues" (with Harland's wonderful solo)

"Monk’s Mood” (a sweeter, more tender version than on the new CD, "Mirror")

“Dream Weaver" (Meditation/Dervish Dance) (so many notes, not one too many)

"Passin' Thru" (why hasn't Lloyd ever recorded this on one of his own CDs as leader? He plays it often enough)

"Mirror" (pure gossamer)

"Forest Flower: Sunrise" and "Sunset" (the last time I heard Lloyd play "Forest Flower," Geri Allen was at the piano)

“Tagi” (the Bhagavad Gita piece)

_____

Thanks (once again, and not for the last time, I sincerely hope) to John Scherrer, who tipped me on the Bhagavad Gita and most of the set list.

It’s not entirely true that the only spoken words were from the sacred “song of God.” Lloyd did not address us from the stage—he didn’t introduce his band members or tell us what he was playing or mention that he had a new CD for sale. He did, however, express displeasure with an audience member who called out a request, and ask another who had been shooting video with his camera directly in front of him for most of the night to stop (“No more, brother”). Please, people, show some respect. Please, club owners, set some ground rules—fair and reasonable ground rules that permit nonintrusive photography (no flash, no bounce light, no standing in front of the stage) when the performers allow it. HH took the pictures included here but he wasn't a jerk about it.

Photos by John Whiting.

SFJAZZ Collective: A supergroup comes to town

When: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 • Where: Dakota • Who: Joe Lovano, tenor saxophone; Miguel Zenon, alto saxophone; Dave Douglas, trumpet; Robin Eubanks, trombone; Renee Rosnes, piano; Matt Penman, bass; Eric Harland, drums

The trouble with most supergroups is they’re too much to take in. Consider the SFJAZZ Collective. I would have been happy to see any one of these seven great musicians in a small-group setting (or, in the case of the splendid pianist Renee Rosnes, solo…or, because a girl can dream, piano-four-hands with her husband, Bill Charlap). But last night all seven were on the Dakota stage at once, making it difficult to decide (except during solos) where to point my eyes and ears.

I mean, Joe Lovano! He rarely touches down in Minneapolis and I have only seen him live once, at an IAJE in NYC. And Miguel Zenon! I’ve seen him several times but it’s never enough. What a powerhouse. Passionate and fascinating. Eric Harland—monster/charmer. Matt Penman. Robin Eubanks. Dave Douglas. At least I didn’t have to torture myself over when to focus on Stefon Harris; he’s on hiatus from the band for a year.



Unlike supergroups with dueling egos and meltdowns, SFJC is a real ensemble. They rehearse extensively before touring and it shows. They’re tight. They all arrange, they all compose. Each year, they focus on a different composer; this year it’s McCoy Tyner. (Past years: Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk.) So their program includes their own arrangements of works by Tyner and new works of their own.



We were at the second set, and this is what we heard:

1. Tyner’s “Peresina,” arranged by Douglas. Out of the gate, an amazing solo by Rosnes. (Pianist Mary Louise Knutson had a clear view of the keyboard and Rosnes’s hands throughout the set—how perfect was that?)
2. Penman’s “Yup, We Did.” Written as a playful response to Eubanks’s “Yes, We Can,” which came later.
3. Tyner’s “Aisha,” arranged by Joe Lovano. A showcase for Lovano’s gorgeous tenor saxophone.
4. Rosnes’s “Migrations.” A warm and sunny piece with a terrific solo by Douglas. Did I hear him quote “There Will Never Be Another You”? A big song for Chet Baker.
5. Eubanks’s “Yes, We Can (A Victory Dance).” Eubanks explained that he was in Bratislava, Slovakia on the night Obama won the election. He wanted to write a celebratory tune. When they weren't playing their instruments, the other band members clapped a pattern of twos and threes.
6. Harland’s “ECollective.” Harland purred and growled his introduction, telling us this piece is based on a tihi, a rhythmic cadence used by Indian drummers. Harland has played a lot with Indian tablaist Ustad Zakir Hussain so he has learned from the best. The band members began by singing the rhythm, as Hussain does when he plays: ticka ticka ticka. Then all rhythmic hell broke loose.
7. Tyner’s “Four by Five,” arranged by Zenon. The blazing, generous encore.



Tonight’s performance capped an incredible run of very big nights for music in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Last week: Joshua Redman’s trio, Esperanza Spalding, Frank Kimbrough, Kenny Werner, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, a surprise performance by Wynton Marsalis and his quartet on the Dakota stage following their final LCJO show at Orchestra Hall. (Kimbrough was the only one I didn’t see, simply because I couldn’t be in two places at once). Who knew things could get so exciting in flyover land?

Photos by John Whiting.

MJF/49: Charles Lloyd at the 2006 Monterey Jazz Festival: Still drunk with the music

In one of the most highly anticipated events of this year’s Monterey Jazz Festival, Charles Lloyd reprised Forest Flower, the recording he made at Monterey in 1966 that sold a million, catapulted him to fame, became the soundtrack of the Flower Power movement, and drove him into the woods at Big Sur for more than a decade. It wasn’t until the 1980s that he came out of musical retirement, and he has graced us with numerous recordings since, most recently Sangam, recorded live in Santa Barbara.

Charles Lloyd

Earlier on Saturday, journalists and photographers were treated to a private Q&A with Lloyd. Moderated by Andrew Gilbert, a freelance writer whose articles about jazz frequently appear in the San Francisco Chronicle, the conversation proved as freewheeling and adventuresome as Lloyd’s playing.

Lloyd began by asking his audience, “How may I serve you?” When Gilbert invited him to think back 40 years to Monterey and his now iconic quartet of that time—Keith Jarrett on piano, Jack DeJohnette on drums, Cecil McBee on bass—Lloyd replied, “We were drawn together; we were dreamers; we wanted to change the world with sound.” What were Lloyd’s expectations for this evening’s performance? None, he said, because “expectations ruin the greatest joy…. I’m happy to be here in this moment. I don’t resonate that the time was 40 years ago. I still feel younger than springtime in spirit because of the great beauty of this art form…. I’m still drunk with this music.”

Lloyd reflected on the loss of Billy Higgins, the drummer with the beatific smile who was Lloyd’s great friend and spiritual brother: “Master Higgins told me he often dreamed we played Forest Flower while flying on our backs.” Higgins died in May 2001 but is still very present in Lloyd’s life. Lloyd believes that Higgins guided him to Eric Harland, the drummer in his current quartet.

It happened during a September week in 2001. Lloyd was in New York City, scheduled to play the Blue Note starting on Monday, September 11. We know what happened on that day. Lloyd began his Blue Note stand on Friday, September 15, with the first in a series of free concerts meant to give New Yorkers hope. Later that night, he heard Harland play in a jam band. “I knew Higgins sent him to me,” Lloyd says, “because of that radiant smile.” Sangam is their first recording together. It’s a trio effort with table master Zakir Hussain, and a tribute to Billy Higgins.

Late in the Q&A, someone asks Lloyd, “How do you feel about playing Forest Flower tonight?” Never predictable, Lloyd answers, “I didn’t know I would be playing Forest Flower tonight. You’re assuming I’ll play Forest Flower…. No one has ever told me what to play. I’ve made a career of that,” he adds wryly, “but it’s not much of a career.”

Thankfully, he does play it, and we’re grateful. This time, Geri Allen is at the piano, queenly in a red silk caftan. Eric Harland is fierce and beautiful on the drums. Rueben Rogers mans the bass; sometimes a single note from his instrument is all we hear, and it’s enough. Lloyd’s saxophone whirls and caresses; his flute dances, as does Lloyd himself, standing behind Harland while the others play.

Is this music really 40 years old? It doesn’t sound dated. And it doesn’t sound modern. It’s music of the moment, and the forest flower blooms again.

P.S. The Arena at the Monterey Jazz Festival is very large. Thoughtfully, the Festival provides a giant screen and plentiful close-ups. Kudos to the camera operators, who almost make you forget you’re sitting hundreds of feet away from the stage.

Originally published at JazzPolice.com