Dreamer

"As the notes of Prayer floated across the auditorium, serenity seemed to settle on those assembled. When Lloyd spoke, it with his characteristic grace and humility. “We are honoured to be here. We don’t understand the planet or how they’ve worked the game out, but we still want to play this music,” he said."

Click here for the full review at Ausjazz Blog.

Sangam's Mystical Communion

"On Saturday evening, local duo Stephen Magnusson (on guitar) and Eugene Ball (trumpet) provided a luminous opening set for Sangam - the final headline act of the festival, and one of the most sublime musical performances I have ever had the privilege to witness.

Words simply cannot do justice to the experience of watching these three master musicians (Charles Lloyd, Zakir Hussain and Eric Harland) unite in a spirit of almost mystical communion. Instruments and musical roles were shared and exchanged; cultural traditions were explored, merged and transcended. Lloyd - on saxophone, flute, tarogato, piano and hand-held shakers that hissed like rattlesnakes - was the shaman at the centre of this spiritual force field, as Hussain's tablas engaged in an undulating dialogue with Harland's drums.

Towards the end of the set, the trio was joined by pianist Jason Moran and bassist Reuben Rogers, deepening the music's meditative undercurrent while propelling it towards a series of ecstatic climaxes.

Sangam means confluence, and this concert represented a profound (and profoundly uplifting) meeting of minds, hearts and souls. It was the perfect way to close a festival that has itself become a confluence of ideas, cultures and genres, bringing them together in an intoxicating program that manages to transcend style, eschew elitism and help foster new ways of listening."

Click here for the full review from the Brisbane Times.

Crowd-pleasers fill city with jazz vibe

"US saxophonist Charles Lloyd, 72, is a legendary figure in jazz. He brought three consummate sidemen from New York: pianist Jason Moran, Reuben Rogers on bass and drummer Eric Harland and all gave performances of near genius level. Lloyd's playing ranged from a hymnal sound to high velocity runs ending on unexpected notes in a constant flow of ideas, at times faintly echoing John Coltrane.

Click here for the full review at The Australian dot com.

Charles Lloyd New Quartet at Bruce Mason Centre

"There was something indefinable in Lloyd's warm yet sometimes emotionally distant tone that, in the lengthy opener, reached back beyond the obvious reference of John Coltrane to a sound which seemed ancient: the audible breath through the instrument and the sense of yearning and space ...

Within minutes Lloyd had captivated the respectful but enthusiastic audience - and the other players had yet to have their chance…"

Click here for the full review from the New Zealand Herald.