Charles Lloyd to release trio of Trio albums on Blue Note

Freethinking, visionary saxophonist Charles Lloyd, now 84, confirms his creativity continues to flow unabated with no less than three new Trio albums that will be released between June and October this year on Blue Note Records. They follow a recent run of critically acclaimed albums such as 2020's 8: Kindred Spirits, a live album that was recorded to celebrate his 80th birthday in 2018, which featured in numerous critics polls and was No.3 in Jazzwise’s 2020 Albums of the Year, while 2021 saw the release of Tone Poem, the third work by his ensemble Charles Lloyd & The Marvels, a genre-bending quintet featuring Bill Frisell on guitar, Greg Leisz on pedal steel guitar, Reuben Rogers on bass and Eric Harland on drums – which was voted Jazzwise’s Album of the Year last year.

Now with Trios: Chapel, Lloyd begins a new chapter in his six decades of recording, exploring intimate musical terrain with three unique, thematically-related albums. The first reunites him with longtime collaborator and guitar guru Bill Frisell and the latter’s frequent duo partner, bassist Thomas Morgan, the music was recorded live at the Trio’s inaugural performance in December 2018, at Coates Chapel in San Antonio. Commenting on this special first meeting, the saxophonist said: “Our first performance has always had a magical place in my memory bank.”

Early listens reveal the Trio’s deeply simpatico connection with the saxophonist in full voice throughout. From the opener ‘Blood Count’ (Billy Strayhorn), to Frisell’s sensitively introduced take on Lloyd’s 1966 original, ‘Song My Lady Sings’, then the softly swaying latin pulse of Cuban pianist Bola de Nieve’s ‘Ay Amor’, to ‘Beyond Darkness’, featuring Lloyd on flute, plus a heartfelt tribute to Lloyd’s partner and soul mate Dorothy Darr and her workspace, ‘Dorotea’s Studio’, the album’s long takes slowly unfurl in sublimely soulful fashion. 

If this wasn’t enough to whet the appetite then the two further releases sound equally enthralling, with Trios: Ocean featuring guitarist Anthony Wilson and pianist Gerald Clayton, and Trios: Sacred Thread featuring guitarist Julian Lage and tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain. Charles Lloyd – Trio of Trios are released as follows Trios: Chapel out 24. June; Trios: Ocean out 26 August 2022 and Trios: Sacred Thread out 28 October. Charles Lloyd & the Marvels headline the Big Top at the Love Supreme Jazz Festival on Saturday 2 July.

See the July issue of Jazzwise – on-sale from 16 June for an exclusive interview with Charles Lloyd ror more info visit www.bluenote.com/artist/charles-lloyd/