At 74, American saxophonist Charles Lloyd stands more creatively tall and publically esteemed than at any time since his midlife comeback after a two-decade sabbatical. These two New York shows are from his first celebrity years, in 1965, with Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó
(Lloyd’s former partner in Chico Hamilton’s band), Miles Davis bassist Ron Carter, and the hard-hitting former Sonny Rollins drummer Pete La Roca. Lloyd’s enduring interest in Hungarian music probably began with Szabó, and the guitarist’s brittle, jangling sound often resembles that of a cimbalom or dulcimer on these six long tracks. The leader is firmly locked into early Coltrane mode – though the lean, plaintive sound to come is glimpsed here and there – and there’s more bumpy, conversational and peppery free-blowing than those used to Lloyd’s spare, reflective current music might warm to. But two versions of Szabó’s Lady Gabor, with its pulsing guitar hook and whooshing flute lines, the Coltraneish mid-tempo Slug’s Blues, and Lloyd’s famous and sombrely funky Dream Weaver make this both an absorbing document and a snapshot of a powerful foursome visiting the edges.
