Charles Lloyd "Wild Man Dance"

Over 50 years into an already legendary career... 2015 is shaping up to be a momentous year for Charles Lloyd ! The esteemed saxophonist and composer will be awarded the NEA Jazz Masters honor celebrating his remarkable career and recognizing his creative brilliance in the pantheon of jazz legends such as Sonny Rollins and Wayne Shorter.

Another career landmark is the release of his magnificent new album, Wild Man Dance on Blue Note Records. It is a live recording of a remarkable longform, six-movement suite. “I come from a tradition of wild yogis,” says the 76-year-old Lloyd, who sagely explains the undergirding of Wild Man Dance. “I’m a blues man on a spiritual journey. The blues come out of a quest for freedom. My spiritual path is the search for the liberation of the soul.”

Lloyd marvels at the organic nature of each band member’s performance of Wild Man Dance. “The music goes direct,” he says. “As to how this happens, words elude me. The ‘zone’ is what calls me—and it is not about my solo or their solos, but about the synchronicity of our combined expression and elevation. Volition, vision and velocity. The call of the wild.”

The jazz master continues to look to the horizon. “I call myself a ‘sound seeker’…the deeper I dive into the ocean of sound, the more I find there is still deeper and further to go.”

We are privileged to share a moment of this quest.