Charles Lloyd. A common thread that connects all jazz artists of any stature is that they are all relentlessly forward thinking. Complacence is anathema in an art form that is built on continuous evolution and progression, and that is the only way this music could have developed so much over its relatively short history. One musician that personifies this ethos is saxophonist Charles Lloyd. His career includes many twists and turns, stretching over 50 years, and he will be at the Kennedy Center on Friday to celebrate not only his body of work, but also his 75th birthday.
“The evening will be extraordinary not only from the perspective of of the music, but also from the gathering of individuals who are in service to humanity around the world, trying to elevate the quality of life through the power and beauty of sound,” Lloyd recently said to DCist.
Lloyd’s career began in Memphis during the 1950s, where he played with blues artists like B.B. King and Howlin’ Wolf. After moving to California to earn a degree in music from USC, he immersed himself in the West Coast’s cool jazz scene with drummer Chico Hamilton, and then the soul jazz of alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley. Around this time, the mid-1960s, he also began recording as a leader, forming a celebrated group that launched the careers of pianist Keith Jarrett and drummer Jack DeJohnette. There is, however, one notable exception to the impressive roster of musicians that Lloyd collaborated with during this time.
“I always regretted not playing with Thelonius Monk,” he said. “He and I used to share bills and dressing rooms together in the ’60s, but we never played together.”
Lloyd’s career went into an entirely different direction in the ’70s. While he still released albums, he toured and recorded far less frequently as part of the jazz scene. Instead, he became a session musician for a number of pop and rock acts, including work with The Doors and a lengthy stretch with The Beach Boys. Lloyd returned to jazz in the ’80s, but his career had a renaissance in the ’90s that continues to this day, largely due to a very successful collaboration with the storied European jazz label, ECM.
Friday’s concert will focus on the collaborations Lloyd has forged in this most recent phase of his career, particularly those formed in the new millennium. The longest association is with tabla master Zakir Hussain, with whom Lloyd first performed together in San Francisco shortly after 9/11. He began playing with vocalist Maria Farantouri the following year. She is perhaps best known in her native Greece for activism against the political junta that once ruled the country, which forced her to live in exile for many years. Lloyd’s latest group is a quartet featuring drummer Eric Harland, bassist Reuben Rogers and pianist Jason Moran. All of these musicians will be performing with Lloyd on Friday, and Moran’s wife, mezzo-soprano Alicia Hall Moran, will also be a featured guest. While these artists comes from many different walks of life, Lloyd sees a unifying quality to all of them.
“It may seem disparate on the surface, but there is a glue holding us together. Music and humanity,” Lloyd explained. “Each of the musicians who will be performing with me at the Kennedy Center is brilliant on their chosen instrument and they are deep souls.”
Charles Lloyd’s 75th Birthday Celebration will take place at the Kennedy Center‘s Concert hall on Friday, March 22, 2013. 8 p.m. $20-$65 + fees.
