It’s difficult to believe that saxophonist and composer Charles Lloyd hasn’t delivered a studio recording since 2017’s Vanished Gardens and Tone Poem, given his prolific output of live offerings, all of which we have covered on these pages. That alone makes The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow important but beyond that, this may well be the most talented quartet that Lloyd’s had on record since the landmark 1966 Forest Flower with Keith Jarrett, Cecil McBee, and Jack DeJohnette.
The 86-year-old Lloyd has been yearning to convene this ‘dream team” for close to four years before commencing sessions with longtime colleague pianist Jason Moran, and Lloyd first timers bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Brian Blade. Remarkably, it’s also the first time this backing trio of elites has played together. Lloyd unveils 15 compositions, 13 of which are originals, across 2 LPs. Six of these are brand new, two are traditional, and seven are re-imagined through the lens of these outstanding musicians. True to form, Lloyd leans most heavily on his tenor saxophone, with stints of flute, alto flute, bass flute, and a rare turn on alto saxophone. The “sound searcher,’ dismayed by our current divisive, racist state and the impact of the pandemic, is as always pursuing freedom and peace. He may have found both with this engaging, consistently spiritual work.
“Defiant, Tender Warrior” with Lloyd blowing aggressive phrases that wash in and out like waves over Moran’s chords and undulating accompaniment while Grenadier adeptly steers the sonics from angry to calm. Lloyd and the quartet are in a serene, melancholy mode on “the Lonely One” with Blade’s shimmering cymbal work highlighting the cascading support, yielding to Grenadier for an emphatic pizzicato run. The first of the new compositions is “The Water Is Rising” is similar in timbre, beginning with Moran’s shimmering piano before Lloyd’s tenor blows gorgeous, balladic phrases, the kind we might associate with Coltrane, albeit softer and more vulnerable – the essence of the master’s technique. As we heard so often during the mid-2010’s the Moran-Lloyd connection remains so telepathically intact. “Late Bloom” a new piece is an interlude performed solo on alto and bass flutes, setting up a tension-filled “Booker’s Garden,” also on alto flute, a standout tune with shifting tempos and dynamics with stellar performances from each quartet member in tribute to the iconic, young trumpeter as Lloyd mentions in the liners “left town as an enlightened Soul” at age 23.
Little is not the only great that Lloyd has in mind. The new piece “The Ghost of Lady Day” begins in sublimely tender mode with Lloyd’s tenor attack growing much fiercer behind a volcanic rhythm undercurrent whereas the expressive title track begins and sustains unbridled energy mostly throughout with a rare appearance on the alto saxophone, decelerating a bit to the close behind an infectious Latin groove. “Beyond Darkness” is another of the gorgeous pastoral forays on alto flute, brimming with both noir and spiritual strains, dissolving so smoothly as they exit. His new composition, “When the Sun Comes Up, Darkness Is Gone” is in essence a companion piece, rendered on tenor. The segue into the 15-minute slowly, tantalizingly winding “Sky Valley, Spirit Forest,” another of the new compositions, reveals Moran’s nimble, classical touch and proves to be a showcase for each musician to display their respective superior musicianship though not as a series of solos but riveting interplay. Lloyd builds his phrases to an intense, fiery apex, leaving it to the rhythm section to finish the narrative animatedly.
Lloyd delivers gospel joy in his two traditional staples, “Balm in Gilead” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” “Cape To Cairo” gives us a window into his Memphis blues beginnings, playing with the likes of Howlin’ Wolf as well as strains of the early Civil Rights hymns, in this case in tribute to Nelson Mandela, given “Cape” in the title.
One could quibble that the album seems just a bit static in places with little change in Lloyd’s musings and the re-airing of several staples in his repertoire, but those quibblers should listen to the sheer ecstasy in “Monk’s Dance,” the album’s brightest moments. Few artists today are making music with this combination of deep emotion, finesse, and color. Lloyd is a singular voice, a true treasure, standing as a pillar now for nearly six decades.
