We are in an age of ‘good’ and ‘very good’ jazz recordings, but paradoxically none that seem likely to be remembered for more than a couple of years, let alone beyond the creator's lifetime. Wild Man Dance is an exception, a truly memorable album; perhaps the finest of Charles Lloyd's career and destined to become a classic. This remarkable six-piece suite was commissioned by the Jazztopad Festival in Wroclaw, Poland and was recorded at the piece's premiere. It marks a memorable return to the Blue Note label for whom Lloyd last recorded in 1985 (with a quartet that launched the career of pianist Michel Petrucciani). The addition of Sinopoulos and Lukács subtly alter the sonic ambience of the saxophone quartet, their presence adding both mystery and gravitas, while Clayton especially impresses in both accompaniment and solo – it is difficult to imagine his predecessor Jason Moran exceeding the richness of his imagination or execution – while Cleaver emerges as a superb colourist as well as time-keeper, perfectly framing Lloyd's lyrical flights.

Jazzwise spoke to Charles Lloyd about the album

Perhaps more than any of your other albums, I get the sense that Wild Man Dance is your magnum opus, emerging from your musical past to a glimpse of fresh horizons that have only previously been suggested.

I look at each recording as potentially my last recording, and if it does become my last release, then it is the most complete reflection of my search in sound. It is a reflection of my life in real time, this is where I am.

Gerald Clayton, Joe Sanders and Gerald Cleaver seem to sense they are in something special, they seem to rise with the performance.

Gerald Clayton, Joe Sanders, and Gerald Cleaver served the music so beautifully. I had invited Clayton to perform with me on a couple of concerts earlier in 2013 at a time when Jason Moran could not be there. At his recommendation I invited Sanders to Poland – he is very musical and creative. For rhythm, I invited Cleaver, who is a beautiful colourist. Along with Lukács and Sinopoulos, this created a completely new orchestra to perform the suite.

You have created a different sonic ambience for the saxophone quartet — how did you arrive at the lyra and cimbalom?

When Piotr Turkiewicz commissioned me to write a new work for the 10th anniversary of the Jazztopad Festival in Wroclaw, he offered to provide a string quartet or orchestra if I wanted, but I had something else in mind. I wanted to incorporate strings, but of a different tone. In recent years I had been introduced to Sokratis Sinopoulos through Maria Farantouri. His ability to pull such a haunting, ancient, penetrating sound from his instrument, and give it a modern context, always amazes me. This was one set of strings. The second was the many more stringed cimbalom. I met Miklós Lukács in 2012 when I had a Sky Trio concert in Budapest. I had invited two great tárogató (Turkish clarinet) players, to join me on stage and they in turn, asked if it would be OK to have Miklós Lukács sit in on cimbalom. Miki is a brilliant musician – he understands modernity and creates not only miraculous harmonies on the cimbalom, but he uses it percussively, as well.

On 16 June 2014 we spoke about Arrows into Infinity and the album Manhattan Stories, and you and Dorothy [Darr] spoke warmly of ECM. When I interviewed Don Was on 13 October 2014 he told me you had signed with Blue Note a few weeks earlier; are you able to talk about your decision to make the move?

ECM has been a beautiful home and I am very proud of the body of work that has resided there. Manfred Eicher has created something very unique in the music world. When Don Was, who is an old friend, approached me about doing a recording with him on Blue Note I was reluctant. He was persistent. At first I thought it would be a blues project, as I had been going back to Memphis over the last few years but after I mixed Wild Man Dance, I decided this should be my next release.