February 28, 2020
The legendary saxophonist, composer, and jazz mystic Charles Lloyd celebrated his 80th birthday on March 15, 2018 at his hometown venue, Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre, with an unprecedented grouping of musical friends including guitarist Julian Lage, pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Eric Harland, with special guests organist Booker T. Jones and bassist Don Was joining the ensemble midway. Lloyd’s magnificent new album 8: Kindred Spirits (Live from The Lobero), out today, documents both the sights and sounds of that extraordinary concert. 8 arrives in a limited-edition deluxe box set that includes 3-LPs, 2-CDs, and a DVD of the full performance, along with a 96-page hardcover book and 2 photo prints that commemorate the first 8 decades of Lloyd’s remarkable journey. The album is also in standard LP/DVD, CD/DVD, and digital versions that feature the concert’s first set.
“Charles Lloyd revels in the flow on a stellar live album 8: Kindred Spirits (Live at the Lobero)… Mr. Lloyd has talked about identifying with his star sign (Pisces), and the importance of waterways to his life. When you hear him, you get it: His saxophone is too light to feel like a solid substance, but too graspable to be vapor. It’s liquid, fast-moving and rerouting.”—New York Times ‘Critic’s Pick’
“fascinating blends: of daring and elegance; of structural complexity and unfettered emotion; of accumulated wisdom and wide-eyed wonder… an octogenarian master, sounding vital as ever, distilling still further the clarity of his music.”—Wall Street Journal
Watch the quintet’s performance of “Requiem” from the DVD:
