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“Sangam”

Charles Lloyd with Zakir Hussain and Eric Harland

Friday, November 3 • 8:00pm

  • $64
  • $44
  • $36
  • $25
    • “The new trio [is] totally condensed and alive, making the most of Mr. Lloyd’s prized lyricism as well as of the two percussionists’ melodic skills.” —The New York Times

    Program Notes

    Charles Lloyd has been an influential force in the jazz world for over forty years, but tonight’s performance is something of a rarity. Long acclaimed for his quartet work, from his first album, Forest Flower (which featured a young Keith Jarrett on piano, as well as drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Cecil McBee), to his recent run of lyrical, searchingly spritual albums on ECM, Lloyd has broken out of his classic format to explore the possibilities of a trio built primarily around percussion.

    The idea for the trio was born out of the passing of Lloyd’s longtime collaborator, drummer Billy Higgins. A “Sacred Space” duet with tabla master Zakir Hussain at Grace Cathedral for the 2001 San Francisco Jazz Festival and a chance meeting with SFJAZZ Collective drummer Eric Harland shortly after 9/11 put the idea for the new collaboration in Lloyd’s head. Their first performance in 2004 confirmed to Lloyd that the group was a fitting tribute to his musical and spiritual partner, Higgins. “The thing with Zakir and Eric, is so natural. It’s that mystical thing again.”

    Playing an arsenal of instruments including tenor and soprano saxophone, piano, and the Hungarian tárogató, Memphis native Lloyd is a font of melodic creativity and inspiration. Modern Drummer praised Harland’s ability to use “the entire set and its variety of sounds to underpin, elaborate, and explore the rhythm.” Hussain, a renowned virtuoso who has worked with John McLaughlin and Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum, proudly noted that the Sangam Trio has never rehearsed. Yet since their inception in 2004 they’ve grown more adventurous and cohesive, a potent tribute to the group’s inspiration. “On his deathbed Master Higgins told me ‘Man we’ve got to keep working on this music,’” Lloyd told DownBeat Magazine. “I will do that as long as I am able, as long as I have a breath.”

    Personnel:
    • Charles Lloyd, tenor & alto saxophone, taragato, flute
    • Zakir Hussain, tabla
    • Eric Harland, drums