Danielle Lloyd Santa Babe

When tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd turned 80, he made sure to mark the occasion with an epic concert at Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre. His youthful quintet Kindred Spirits is anchored by his longstanding New Quartet rhythm section (bassist Reuben Rogers, drummer Eric Harland), but with them are pianist Gerald Clayton and guitarist Julian Lage, both newer arrivals to the Lloyd universe and major leaders in their own right. Clayton imaginatively inhabits a space once filled by his predecessor, Jason Moran, while Lage (playing a Telecaster) follows in a line of acclaimed Lloyd guitar sidemen (John Abercrombie, Bill Frisell, and Gabor Szabo). Playing tried-and-true Lloyd repertoire beginning with “Dream Weaver,” the title track of his first Atlantic LP from ’66, and ending with the abstract, explosive “Part 5, Ruminations,” Kindred Spirits captures the essence of Lloyd’s mystical jazz vision, and gives it new, forward-thinking shape as well.

Charles Lloyd has long been a free spirit, master musician, and visionary. For more than 6 decades the legendary saxophonist and composer has loomed large over the music world, and at 84 years old he remains at the height of his powers and as prolific as ever. As a sound seeker, Lloyd’s restless creativity has perhaps found no greater manifestation than on his latest masterwork Trio of Trios, an expansive project that encompasses three albums, each a deft change of musical context that presents him in a different trio setting.