The Originality of Charles Lloyd

What is it that’s so unique about Charles Lloyd? His sound is unmistakable. It takes no more than a second to know you’re listening to him, and no one else.

· Is it the sound? Charles Lloyd has a sweet, mellow, even beautiful tone, without being in the least bit syrupy or cheesy. In fact, his sound is so unique, so different from everyone else, that he seems to be playing a different instrument.

· Is it the structure of his compositions? I hardly know enough about music to understand what’s going on, but his songs seem more open, and less structured than most other jazz music. Mike perhaps can tell us why this is so.

· Is it the ethereal quality to his music. Lloyd has the ability to bring a transcendent feeling to his songs. Not all of them, but certainly some works seem to soar above everyday life. They become more than just music. There is a kind of exaltation reminiscent of great classical work, like Beethoven’s ninth, or Brahms’ Haydn Variations, or Verdi’s choruses.

Lloyd’s most recent CD is Jumping the Creek, and the liner notes are by Stanley Crouch, who I guess is as capable a jazz critic as we have around today. Crouch notices the same things I mentioned – Lloyd’s “absolutely unique sound”, and the “soaring weight” of some of his music. But Crouch is no better than I am at describing why this is so, why Charles Lloyd’s sound is unique, and why exactly his music is so original. Perhaps that’s not so unusual though, after all. If Lloyd really is unique, then no one else has ever gone exactly where he’s gone. So it makes sense if no one’s ever been there before, no one can describe with any precision exactly where it is that Charles Lloyd has gone, or how he got there. Or how it is that he takes us along with him. Anyway, it’s worth the ride. Check it out.