A deeply meditative and tender new album by the Charles Lloyd Quartet is released just days after this issue hits the streets. Titled Mirror it is an album imbued with a lot of love, containing many of the distilled musical and life experiences of Charles Lloyd, one of the great figures of jazz who since the 1960s, has looked to the sky and within himself to allow his music to connect with people the world over.

Now 72, the musician who tuned in, turned on and dropped out but crucially came back for a new wave of remarkable creativity, talks to Stuart Nicholson about his Memphis days, playing with the Beach Boys in California, the dramatic time when the CLQ came together, and above all rising above the battlefield of life.

Not for nothing was saxophonist Charles Lloyd’s debut on the Atlantic label in 1966 called Dreamweaver. This was the album that brought virtual unknowns Keith Jarrett, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Jack DeJohnette to the attention of the jazz world. Now, 44 years on, he is still weaving dreams. His current band, known as the “New Quartet”, with Jason Moran on piano, Reuben Rogers on bass and Eric Harland on drums, is currently being touted as the equal of his original, ground breaking quartet not just by critics and fans, but by Lloyd himself.

This is an extract from Jazzwise Issue #146 – to read the full article click here to subscribe and receive a FREE CD...