Charles Lloyd & Maria Farantouri live at JazzFest Berlin 2011

Charles Lloyd saxophone, flute, tarogato
Maria Farantouri vocals
Jason Moran piano
Reuben Rogers bass
Eric Harland drums
Socratis Sinopoulos lyra

recorded live at Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Main Stage, November 6, 2011

1. Blow Mind
2. Dream Weaver
3. Beyond Darknessn
4. Se pater kosmon
5. Medley: Vielfaro mou/Thalassaki Mou/Margaritenia/
Alismono/Tou Hel'to Kastron/Requiem/Yanni Mou
6. Prayer

The power, depth and beauty of music can transcend language and cultural differences. Charles Lloyd and Maria Farantouri are both independent, iconic figures in their respective worlds of music: American jazz and the classical music of Greece. When Lloyd and Farantouri met in the fall of 2002, they recognized the one in the other, a fellow soul pursuing a life using music as a means to inspire and elevate other fellow souls on the road to freedom.

The Berlin Jazzfestival line-up features, alongside the singer and the saxophonist’s all-star Charles Lloyd New Quartet, greek lyre player Socratis Silopoulos. Their album “Athens Concert” was recorded in 2010 and released this year on ECM.

Joshua Redman Trio live in Memmingen 2011

Joshua Redman, Tenor and Soprano Saxophones

Reuben Rogers, Bass

Gregory Hutchinson, Drums

recorded live at Kaminwerk, Memmingen, February 15, 2011

1. Blackbird / Bye bye blackbird (John Lennon/Paul McCartney/Ray Henderson)

2. Allegretto, 2. Satz, Sinfonie Nr. 7 (Ludwig van Beethoven)

3. Zarafah (Joshua Redman)

4. God put a smile upon your face (Guy Berryman/Jon Buckland/Will Champion/Chris Martin)

5. Trinkle Tinkle (Thelonious Monk)

On Compass, Joshua Redman takes the concept of “playing trio” in surprising new directions. The title of his third Nonesuch disc evokes navigation, travel, a desire to find one’s bearings. Redman confirms, “This album was a journey for me, a further exploration of the trio format. Musically, it’s an expansion on, and extension of, Back East,” his acclaimed 2007 set and his first studio recording with an acoustic trio.

The saxophonist recorded Compass during three days in March ‘08 at Avatar Studio in New York City, and it was a bracing leap into the unknown for him. As Redman admits, with a laugh, “Sometimes I’m guilty, with my recordings, of having too clear a plan. This time I said, ‘Hey, I just have to let go.’ If I try to plan it, it’s not going to work, so I’ll just think about some tunes that we could do with everybody together, we’ll get in the studio and see how it goes. There was a real kind of release for me with this project, an embrace of the unfamiliar.”

Charles Lloyd Quartet live at JazzBaltica 2010

Charles Lloyd - Saxophones, Flute
Jason Moran - Piano
Reuben Rogers - Bass
Eric Harland - Drums
recorded live at Konzertscheune Salzau, July 3, 2010

1. Hymn To The Mother (Charles Lloyd)
2. Ramanujan (Charles Lloyd)
3. Dream Weaver (Charles Lloyd)
4. Blow Wind (Charles Lloyd)
5. Booker's Garden (Charles Lloyd)
6. Rabo de Nube (Charles Lloyd)

Similar to the 2007 live CD Rabo de Nube (ECM records) this concert here features tender ballads, including the title track, Cuban songwriter Silvio Rodríguez’s “Rabo de Nube” (“tail of a cloud”), a mountaintop meditation with the tarogato (“Ramanujan”), a tribute to Booker Little, and more. 

Charles Lloyd New Quartet live at Kulturetage Oldenburg 2010/ 2000

Charles Lloyd, tenor sax, flute
Jason Moran, piano
Reuben Rogers, bass
Eric Harland, drums
recorded live at Kulturetage Oldenburg, November 28, 2010

1. Introduction
2. I Fall In Love Too Easily (M.: Jule Styne, T.: Sammy Cahn)
3. Dream Weaver: I. Meditation, II. Dervish Dance (Charles Lloyd)
4. Caroline No (Brian Wilson, Tony Asher)
5. Third Floor Richard (Charles Lloyd)
6. The Water Is Wide (Trad.)
7. Lift Every Voice And Sing (M.: J. Rosamond Johnson, T.: James Welson Johnson)
8. Come Sunday (Duke Ellington)
9. Tagi (Charles Lloyd)

Charles Lloyd has always led exceptional bands, and this is one of the finest. Following on from the live album “Rabo de Nube” which won both the Readers and Critics Polls of Jazz Times, he released his latest studio album "Mirror" featuring the quartet with Jason Moran, Reuben Rogers and Eric Harland. Familiar material is reappraised and transformed in this session recorded in California in December 2009.

Charles Lloyd, tenor sax
John Abercrombie, guitar
Darek "Oles" Oleszkiewicz, bass
Tony Austin, drums

recorded live at PFL, Oldenburg, May 18, 2000

1. Prayer (Charles Lloyd)
2. God Give Me Strength (Elvis Costello, Burt Bacharach)
3. Voice In The Night (Charles Lloyd)

This part of a concert recorded 10 years earlier than the concert above serves as a kind of encore, featuring here another rendition of the Charles Lloyd Quartet with guitar legend John Abercrombie.

Joshua Redman Trio live at Zeltival Karlsruhe 2009

Joshua Redman, tenor and soprano saxophones
Reuben Rogers, bass
Greg Hutchinson, drums

recorded live at Tollzeit Zeltival Karlsruhe, June 17, 2009

1. Blackwell's Message (Joe Lovano)
2. Trinkle Tinkle (Thelonious Monk)
3. Little Ditty (Joshua Redman)
4. East Of The Sun (Brooks Bowman)
5. Hey Mama (Joshua Redman)
6. Autumn In New York (Vernon Duke)

I think this gentleman needs no introduction. His latest album "Compass", released on Nonesuch, is Josh´s strongest outing as a leader on record.