Description
Ocean is the second volume in saxophonist Charles Lloyd’s 2022 Trios series, all recorded with different personnel. This one finds Anthony Wilson on guitar and Gerald Clayton on piano. Both men are members of his Kindred Spirits ensemble. The set was livestreamed during the pandemic on September 9, 2020 from the stage of the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, California sans audience. Lloyd has spent his career integrating jazz, blues, and American styles with the music of other global traditions. One of his qualities is that no matter how far afield he travels, his clear, emotive tone keeps the music, no matter how exotic, readily and honestly accessible.
The lack of drums adds extra intimacy to four gently rising and falling Lloyd originals. … Understatement is Ocean’s greatest strength
Ocean offers a document of spontaneously created music-making of a very high order. A snapshot of a moment in time, the energy, creativity, and surprise offered here are a delight.
As a sound seeker, Charles Lloyd’s restless creativity has perhaps found no greater manifestation than on his latest masterwork, an expansive project that encompasses three albums with an overarching theme, each presenting him in a different trio setting – a trio of trios.
