Etter at Charles Lloyd kom tilbake fra sitt selvpålagte eksil, har han vært nært koplet til Manfred Eichers ECM helt fra publiseringen av «Fish Out of Water» med Bobo Stenson, Palle Danielsson og Jon Christensen i 1989 til den ferske videoen «Arrows into Infinity».
Overraskelsen er stor, men i følge New York Times skifter nå Charles Lloyd plateselskap fra ECM til Blue Note, se nytimes.com/2015/01/27/a-busy-spring-for-charles-lloyd/.
Blue Note reports that:
More than 50 years into an already legendary career, 2015 is shaping up to be a momentous year for Charles Lloyd – the esteemed saxophonist and composer has signed with Blue Note Records and will release his first album for the iconic label in 30 years with the April 14 arrival of Wild Man Dance, a magnificent live recording of a remarkable long-form suite commissioned by the Jazztopad Festival in Wroclaw, Poland. Lloyd will present the North American premiere of the “Wild Man Dance Suite” on April 18 at the Metropolitan Museum Temple of Dendur in New York City followed by two performances of the work during a four-night stand at SFJAZZ (April 23-26) in San Francisco. Lloyd will also perform with his Quartet at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 2.
On April 20, Lloyd will reach another career landmark when he is awarded the NEA Jazz Masters honor celebrating his remarkable career as well as recognizing his creative brilliance in the pantheon of such other living and vital jazz legends as Sonny Rollins and Wayne Shorter. An awards ceremony and concert honoring the recipients will take place at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
For the past half-century Lloyd has loomed large over the music world with both his presence and his occasional absence. A musical mystic, Lloyd has apprenticed with jazz and blues legends from Phineas Newborn to Cannonball Adderley to Howlin’ Wolf, helped launch the careers of jazz luminaries like Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette, co-headlined rock events with Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, collaborated with fellow artistic explorers from Ken Kesey to Lawrence Ferlinghetti, pioneered the world music movement by teaming up with the Hungarian guitarist Gabor Szabo and Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain, and became one of the first million-selling jazz artists with the global success of his 1966 album Forest Flower.
Wild Man Dance marks Lloyd’s first Blue Note release since 1985’s A Night in Copenhagen, a live quartet set from the 1983 Copenhagen Jazz Festival, featuring aspiring pianist Michel Petrucciani who had urged Lloyd to come out of retirement from his Big Sur home. “I came down from my spiritual retreat in 1981 to help Michel get a foothold on the world stage, as the elders had done for me,” Lloyd says. “When things started to take off for him I returned to my solitude in Big Sur.”
“It wasn’t until a near death experience in 1986 that I fully rededicated myself to this beautiful tradition from which I come,” Lloyd explains. In 1989, Lloyd began his inspired 16-album relationship with ECM Records. “When Don Was became head of Blue Note [in 2011], he came up to see us and invited me to record for the label.” Lloyd ultimately accepted the invitation, with a mission in mind: “I want to stretch my wings wider and find new thermals to soar on. It is all a continuation of my search and service in sound.”
