Tenor/soprano saxophonist/flutist/composer/ bandleader Charles Lloyd represents to many the ideal crossover artist, having early on combined elements of rock with jazz.
Lloyd was born in Memphis, Tenn., on March 15, 1938. His saxophone playing started when he was 10 years old, starting as a self-taught musician and later going with teachers. B.B. King and Bobby Bland were early assignments, as were other r&b bands as a teenaged alto player. In the mid '50s Lloyd was enrolled at the University of Southern California, studying music composition. Out of school with a degree, Lloyd was a music teacher until he joined Chico Hamilton in 1961. With Hamilton he started playing tenor and flute.
Lloyd's profile increased when he joined Cannonball Adderley's sextet from 1964-'65, recording and touring internationally. In 1966, Lloyd started a group with Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette and Cecil McBee (later replaced by Ron McLure. This commercially and musically successful group would go on the perform not only in jazz venues but at rock shows as well.
The following year, Lloyd's group became the first jazz group to perform at an arts festival in the then-Soviet Union. This group toured the world extensively, and recorded well-received albums. During the 1970s, Lloyd concentrated more on teaching even as he continued the occasional stateside tour. Since the late '80s, Lloyd has had more of a public presence, recording and performing with greater frequency, with, among others, Palle Danielsson, Billy Hart, Jon Christensen, Bobo Stenson, Ralph Peterson and Anders Jormin.
Recordings include The Call (ECM, 1993), Notes From Big Sur (ECM, 1991), Fish Out Of Water (ECM, 1989), Just Before Sunrise (32 Records, 1999, rec. as Dream Weaver and Love-In, Atlantic, 1966, '67). —John Ephland
Charles Lloyd - Tone Poem - with Charles Lloyd (tenor sax), Michel Petrucciani (piano), Cecil McBee (bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums).
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