Charles Lloyd
Tenor Sax, Flute
About
NEA Jazz Master Charles Lloyd is a saxophonist and composer whose career spans six decades. A pivotal figure in jazz since the late 1950s, he is known for his innovative style, blending traditional jazz with avant-garde and world music influences. Lloyd began his career in Los Angeles, performing with artists such as Gerald Wilson, Chico Hamilton, and Cannonball Adderley before leading his own quartet. In 1966, his groundbreaking album Forest Flower: Live at Monterey sold over a million copies, introducing jazz to rock audiences. This success led him to collaborate with rock icons like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, and the Beach Boys. In the 1970s, Lloyd retreated to Big Sur, California, to focus on his spiritual growth, rarely performing. A serious illness in 1986 marked a turning point, inspiring him to return to the stage and launch a new era of musical innovation. In the decades since, Lloyd has collaborated with a diverse range of artists from around the world. He formed a new quartet with Jason Moran and created The Marvels, a fusion group featuring Bill Frisell, continuing his legacy of boundary-pushing jazz.
Trivia
Charles Lloyd was voted DownBeat Magazine's Jazz Artist of the Year in 1967 and again in 2023 becoming the oldest-ever artist of the year at the age of 85. In 1967 Charles Lloyd performed in the Soviet Union, a time when few American jazz artists were welcomed in to that country. Charles Lloyd's 2013 long form piece, "Wild Man Dance Suite" features the piano, bass, drums, cimbalom and lyra.
Early Life
Charles Lloyd, born in 1938 in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up immersed in music. His mother often hosted visiting musicians, including jazz legends Duke Ellington and Count Basie. From an early age, Lloyd aspired to be a musician. He began singing at local amateur hours at age seven, but when he received a saxophone at nine, he knew he had found his true calling. Lloyd studied with some of Memphis’s top musicians, including pianist Phineas Newborn Jr. By high school, he was performing as a sideman for blues greats like Johnny Ace, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Howlin’ Wolf, and B.B. King. In 1956, Lloyd moved to Los Angeles to study music at USC. By night, he honed his craft in the city’s jazz clubs, playing alongside West Coast luminaries such as Ornette Coleman, Billy Higgins, Eric Dolphy, and Bobby Hutcherson.
Charles Lloyd Solos
1972
Tenor Sax solo - Verdilac - 1972
4/4 rock in B major at 157 BPM
Tenor Sax solo - Verdilac - 1972
4/4 rock in A major at 166 BPM
Flute solo - The Piano Bird - 1972
4/4 rock in A minor at 168 BPM