The casual and relaxed VFW feel that Charles Lloyd and Reuben Rogers/b, Bill Frisell/g, Greg Leisz/stg and Eric Harland/dr created on their first album got just a tad deeper with Lucinda Williams contributing earthy vocals on a handful of the tunes on this latest release.
Williams’ mix of gospel tinge and gasping emotion works wonderfully well as Lloyd brings in breathy obligatos a la Lester Young on “Dust” and the Cumberland Gap-ish “Vinturea, wihle Harland’s drums add a military march to create a rural twang on “Unsuffer Me.” Most potent is the ear grabbing tro of Frisell, Williams and Lloyd as they shine like a haunting harvest mood on “Angel.”
The instrumentals get a bit more frisky, as Lloyd loosens up to Frisell’s chime on “Vanished Gardens” and “Defiant” is a gloriously reclining ballad, serving as a perfect lead to the pink sunset of “Ballad of the Sand Young Men.” The duo between Frisell and Lloyd on “Monk’s Mood” is as relevant, personal and yet experimentally introspective as the encounter between the composer and John Coltrane. This album is a real delight.
Blue Note Records