CULTURE
Charles Lloyd gives concert in Baku
Baku, October 31, AZERTAC
Legendary American saxophonist Charles Lloyd’s jazz band has given a concert at the Heydar Aliyev Palace in Baku as part of the Jazz Festival. The quartet performed classical and modern jazz compositions. Though Lloyd primarily plays tenor saxophone and flute, he has occasionally recorded on other reed instruments, including alto saxophone and the Hungarian tárogató.
Lloyd's working band since 2007 features pianist Jason Moran, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Eric Harland.
Lloyd grew up in Memphis, and was exposed to its rich river culture and musical heritage, including blues, gospel and jazz. Lloyd's ancestry of African, Cherokee, Mongolian, and Irish descent reflects a similar rich culture. He was given his first saxophone at the age of 9, and was riveted to 1940s radio broadcasts by Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington.
Lloyd was one of the first jazz artists to sell one million copies of a recording (Forest Flower), and then he surprised the music world by walking away from performing just at the point that he was dubbed a jazz superstar. Actually he was just following a trajectory that was taking him closer to the essence of the music he was hearing.