Charles Lloyd blows the blues away at The Barbican for the EFG London Jazz Festival

As visits to the UK by US jazz royalty go, they don’t come bigger or more special than this. Charles Lloyd may well be the most esteemed jazz player currently working. His latest album – with his group The Marvels – Tone Poem, topped the Jazzwise 2021 critics’ end-of-year album poll. It’s just the latest in a series of triumphs the venerable saxophonist has made since he emerged in the early 1960s: young sideman to BB King; reaching a crossover audience in the 1960s with his albums for Atlantic; fruitful periods on Blue Note and ECM; working with non-jazz artists such as Lucinda Williams and the Beach Boys; and now, as elder statesman, his energy seemingly undiminished at age 83.

In support of this icon were Nérija, a mostly female septet, featuring the combined talents of a new wave of London players: Cassie Kinoshi on alto sax, Sheila Maurice-Grey on trumpet, Josephine Davis on tenor and flute, Lizy Exell on drums, Rosie Turton, trombone, Rio Kai on bass and Shirley Tetteh on guitar. They acquitted themselves well – Kinoshi’s solos were outstanding – but for the audience, Lloyd was what they’d came for.

Taking the stage to rapturous applause and supported by a stellar trio of pianist Gerald Clayton (superb), long-standing collaborator Reuben Rogers on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums, Lloyd found himself performing with players entirely simpatico with his musical and spiritual vision; the empathy and communication between the four men was palpably telepathic.

What is marvellous about Lloyd is the way he wears his status with quiet dignity, and his sheer unselfishness as both player and leader. During his bandmates’ solos, he would sit back and enjoy their playing, as if he were a member of the audience, and offering affectionate, admiring glances; he allowed his musicians to shine.

Over the course of eight numbers (‘Dream Weaver’ was one that many would have recognised, but for the record, he also played ‘The Dirge’, ‘Lift Every Voice’, ‘Zoltan’, ‘Beyond Darkness’, ‘Hymn’, ‘Dance’ and others) his playing was energetic, rich, warm, mellifluous, questing and seemingly effortless. It was a perfectly-paced set, with solos in all the right places; Lloyd moved seamlessly between tenor sax, flute and the Hungarian tarogato and even intoned a moving (and seemingly improvised) poem.

Concert MC (and Jazzwise contributor) Kevin Le Gendre told us at the start of the concert we were about to be in the ‘presence of greatness’ and that Lloyd was ‘a real storyteller’. He was right on both counts. Those standing ovations were well deserved: Lloyd is one of the true greats, and among the finest musical storytellers in jazz today. This concert will not be forgotten by anyone who was lucky enough to have been there.