No one, and I mean NO ONE in jazz knows how to play a rubato like Charles Lloyd. The meditative brood sounds so simple, but in lesser hands it usually turns into a self indulged squawk or a meandering miasma. But Lloyd has been there and back, and his pensive chant on the tenor shows his masters touch on this commissioned suite performed in Wroclaw, Poland. The supporting team also displays Lloyd’s mix of modern jazz and monastic contemplation, with Sokratis Sinopoulos bringing Byzantine sounds on the lyra and Hungarian cimbalomist Mikos Lukacs add exotic flavors to the traditional modal themes provided by Gerald Clayton/p, Joe Sanders/b and Gerald Cleaver/dr.
The Lloyd and company show their bop and modal skills on “River” which rivals anything that Coltrane did at his zenith, with a mix of swing and passion that is both masterful and majestic. Mysticism that rivals chants from the Mount Athos Monastery in Greece is reflected on the cantoral “Flying Over the Odra Valley” and “Lark,” both which include the old world instrumentation, whereas Lloyd’s horn meld together into a gurglingly melodic climax on the title track. Nothing here seems neither rushed nor overly examined. The music moves forward liturgically, going from one scene to the next as if you were on a pilgrim’s sojourn.
Blue Note Records