Too Much Jazz Saxophone? Never.

"Charles Lloyd, Jumping the Creek (ECM)
Too much jazz saxophone? Never. Lloyd has been playing since before Coltrane died, and he's seen jazz trends (psychedelic jazz-soul?) come and go. But he's been refining his vision for the last decade or so, and it includes talented pianist Geri Allen, who ably bridges old-school melody and the avant-garde. The original compositions reference a combination of post-bop, minimalism, European chamber jazz, early music and folk music from different cultures. Nothing I've heard this year is as startlingly beautiful as this album's opener, a cover of Jacques Brel's "Ne Me Quitte Pas."

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