By Paul Freeman [August 2015]

His career spans more than half a century. But 77-year-old, legendary jazz saxophonist/flutist/composer Charles Lloyd still finds something new, every time he picks up an instrument.

Lloyd grew up in Memphis. He began playing the sax at age nine. Later he learned to express himself fluently on flute, as well. Sharing his passion for jazz was trumpeter Booker Little, Lloyd’s best friend in high school. Lloyd was a sideman for blues greats Johnny Ace, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Howlin' Wolf and B.B. King.

Classical music held an allure for Lloyd, as well. After playing sax with many great blues and jazz performers during his teens, Lloyd moved to Los Angeles to earn a degree in music. He headed to New York City in 1960. Later that year, Chico Hamilton made Lloyd his music director.

After playing in Cannonball Adderley’s sextet, Lloyd formed his own quartet in 1965. This incredible group also included pianist Keith Jarrett, drummer Jack DeJohnette and bassist Cecil McBee.

Their 1966 album, “Forest Flower: Live at Monterey,” was one of the first jazz records to sell a million copies. It was a crossover hit.

Tom Conrad wrote in Down Beat magazine, “Lloyd brought together avant-garde liberties, impressionistic harmonics, elements of what we now call ‘world music,’ and variants on rock rhythms. The blend acted on its audience like a siren's call.”

His quartet was the first jazz group to play San Francisco’s Fillmore Theatre. Lloyd became part of rock music’s experimental era of the late 60s, playing on records by artists like The Doors and The Byrds. Lloyd worked extensively with The Beach Boys, both on studio recordings and as a member of their touring band.

In 1967, Down Beat named Lloyd the Jazz Artist of the Year and he was invited to tour the world. In addition to enthusiastic receptions at concerts and festivals in Europe and the Far East, the quartet introduced jazz to the Soviet Union.

At the height of his career, in the 70s, Lloyd stepped away, moving to Big Sur, California, to further his inner journey. He emerged at various points, primarily in 1981 to introduce the amazing young French pianist Michel Petrucciani.

After surviving a serious illness in the mid-1980s, Lloyd returned to performing, revitalized. He triumphed again at such events as the Montreux Festival.

Lloyd has earned acclaim not only as a recording artist, but as a composer. At 77, he continues to write, record and tour. Lloyd’s new album is titled “Wild Man Dance Suite.” In April, he received the NEA Jazz Masters Award.

POP CULTURE CLASSICS:
Even today, when you pick up your instrument, are there still discoveries to be made?

CHARLES LLOYD:
Every day is a discovery. I have beginners mind and delight in turning over new stones on the path each day.

PCC:
Do sax and flute express two different sides of your personality in some ways? Do you view them as two separate, individual voices? What is it about those two particular instruments that make them so effective in conveying what’s in your heart?

LLOYD:
The flute brings me closer to my Native American roots and my great grandmother, Sallie Sunflower Whitecloud. The saxophone is my voice. I always wanted to be a singer, and through the saxophone I am able to sing my song.

PCC:
Who were the artists who most inspired or influenced you, the ones from whom you learned the most?

LLOYD:
Lady Day and Prez [tenor saxophonist Lester “Prez” Young], Charlie Parker, and very importantly, Phineas Newborn. I met Phineas when I was 9 years old, after I had won first prize at an amateur show. He grabbed me when I came off stage and said "You need lessons, bad!" Then he took me around the corner to a great alto player, Irvin Reasson, and left me there for lessons. Later he put me in his Father's band. Phineas was a great genius and in Memphis he was our J.S. Bach. He planted the piano seed in my heart and over the years it has bloomed over and over again in - Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, MIchel Petrucciani, Bobo Stenson, Geri Allen, Brad Mehldau, Jason Moran, Gerald Clayton - a beautiful bouquet. Ornette was an inspiration. We met when I was 18 and we were close friends in Los Angeles and in New York City. Coltrane and Sonny Rollins also inspired me.

In high school, Booker Little was my best friend and when I got to New York City in 1960, I stayed with him for the first several months. We talked late into the nights about music and explorations and he also taught me about the importance of character.

PCC:
Having played with so many prominent jazz and blues artists by your teens, how did your musical palette expand, when you studied classical at USC?

LLOYD:
I initially went to USC to study with Halsey Stevens, the foremost authority on Bartok at the time. Booker and I had discovered his music in Memphis and I was fascinated with how he took the folks tunes of Hungary as the basis for many of his compositions.

PCC:
Playing with Chico Hamilton and Cannonball Adderley, what did you learn that you could apply to your own approach to leading a band?

LLOYD:
Flexibility, openness, freedom. Chico made me his music director which gave me an opportunity to compose and arrange. I was also able to bring in the musicians that I wanted to play with. It was a great vote of confidence in me, and prepared me for leading my own group a few years later.

PCC:
Why do you think “Forest Flower” was able to break down genre boundaries and reach such a wide audience?

LLOYD:
It was a reflection of the times - things were very open. On FM radio and you could hear all kinds of music in one show - pop, rock, blues, jazz, Indian classical, opera ...

PCC:
Being the first jazz group to play San Francisco’s Fillmore Theatre, did you have a conscious desire to introduce jazz to other audiences?

LLOYD:
We were intent on making our music wherever we were invited. We didn't have theatrical thoughts like "crossing over." I knew the blues guys who were performing at the Fillmore, so I didn't think there would be anything strange about the audience.

PCC:
Playing on records by artists like The Doors and The Byrds, did you enjoy being part of rock’s experimental era of the 60s?

LLOYD:
They were friends. I approached it like that... making music with friends. When you love music you love a lot of it. Jimi Hendrix and I had plans to record together, but he left too soon.

PCC:
You worked extensively with The Beach Boys. What drew you to their sound?

LLOYD:
I had heard “Pet Sounds” and loved that recording. But I didn't know much about them. It turns out they were fans and Mike Love and I share the same birthday of March 15th. He came to me and invited me to be on “Surf's Up” and “Holland.” Later after I had left the jazz scene, he invited me to tour with them.

PCC:
Performing in Eastern bloc countries during the Soviet era, did you view yourself as a musical ambassador, using music to unite people?

LLOYD:
I saw music as a way to bring harmony and beauty to a very troubled world. I was naive, but sincere about my convictions. Jazz is an expression of freedom and wonder. The USSR and Eastern bloc countries were starved for some light and inspiration in their lives. We were very moved by their love of the music and their hospitality.

PCC:
In composing, do you often have an idea already dancing in your head? Or does a tune often spring from experimentation and improvisation?

LLOYD:
Composing is a mystery. Sometimes a melody is pulled form the ethers or a dream. Or I hear something when I am swimming under water. Bird song, frogs, and the wind inspire me, too.

PCC:
How essential to your development was your opening yourself up to world music early on?

LLOYD:
An open mind and exploration is essential to all development. I have always been open to all kinds of music.

PCC:
Stepping away, into Big Sur, in the 70s, did you need a pause for reflection? Was that vital to your future musical evolution?

LLOYD:
I was completely burned out from 10 years of non-stop touring. Both my life and music were imploding. I stopped to get my self together and heal. Big Sur was the perfect place for me to retreat to at that time.

PCC:
Has your lifelong quest for wisdom/spiritual understanding gone hand-in-hand with your musical growth?

LLOYD:
It is all one.

PCC:
What was it about Michel Petrucciani’s gift that made you want to help him be heard?

LLOYD:
He had a great talent and a considerable physical disability. Even without the disability, I would have wanted to help him establish himself on the world stage as the elders had done for me.

PCC:
After your 1986 hospitalization, coming back with a new band, did you feel reenergized, feel a renewed need to communicate through music?

LLOYD:
While I was recovering from surgery, I decided to rededicate myself to this great tradition of jazz. It is my dharma, my path.

PCC:
What does the validation of receiving the NEA Jazz Masters award mean to you?

LLOYD:
It is very nice to be acknowledged by America's highest national arts organization. Berklee College of Music just gave me an honorary doctorate and that was quite a thrill.

PCC:
What has been the most rewarding aspect of your life in music?

LLOYD:
Exploration and sharing. Service in the music.

PCC:
To you, what is the great power that music holds, for the player, and for the listener?

LLOYD:
Music is a universal language that can go directly to the heart with the pure unadulterated beauty of sound.

PCC:
Was there ever a moment where you said to yourself, “Ah, I’ve found my sound!” Or is that quest infinite?

LLOYD:
If I had done that, you would not see me here. I would be deep in the forest with my loin cloth on.

PCC:
What do you see as being the keys to jazz remaining a vital force in the future?

LLOYD:
Knowledge and respect for those who have come before us… and being in the now.

For more on this artist, visit charles lloyd.com.