Charles Lloyd Quartet featuring Bill Frisell, Larry Grenadier & Kweku Sumbry
Blue Note131 West 3rd Street, New York 10012
Charles Lloyd brings his quartet to Blue Note with guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Kweku Sumbry. The billed group places Lloyd’s saxophone and flute alongside Frisell’s guitar, Grenadier’s bass and Sumbry’s drums. No further program or special-theme details have been announced for the evening, so the focus is the working quartet itself and the interplay among four musicians with substantial individual voices.
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Lloyd moved to Los Angeles in 1956 and built a career that has moved through free jazz, rock ’n’ roll, world music and psychedelia. Early on he played with Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Charlie Haden, Billy Higgins and Gerald Wilson, then joined the Cannonball Adderley Sextet. His 1960s quartet with Keith Jarrett, Cecil McBee and Jack DeJohnette made Forest Flower: Live at Monterey, one of jazz’s first million-selling records. Lloyd and Frisell first joined forces in 2013 and have since performed and recorded as a duo, trio, quartet and quintet. The Guardian has called Lloyd “a moving ballad player with a uniquely gauzy and vulnerable sound,” while BBC Music heard “lush, tender ballads” and a “deep respect for jazz tradition” in a related quartet.
Blue Note Jazz Club is a dedicated listening room in the heart of Manhattan's jazz district, where the music is the focus and the space is designed to let the sound fill the room. The club features a stage with a small audience area, and the atmosphere is one of quiet concentration on the music. Shows typically begin at 8:00 PM with a second set at 10:30 PM, and the audience sits on chairs close to the stage. The club has a bar, and drinks are available. The experience is primarily about listening to live jazz, with occasional gospel and soul performances, and the audience often stays to talk and enjoy the music after the sets.