Given his first saxophone at the age of nine, Charles Lloyd – born in Memphis, Tennessee on March 15, 1938- developed a love of jazz as he listened and learned from the greats including Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Lester Young. He perfected his craft before going out and promoting himself, getting jobs as a sideman for Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King and Bobby 'Blue' Bland. At the age of 18, Charles Lloyd left his hometown of Memphis and moved to Los Angeles, California, where he studied for a degree in music at the University of Southern California. In 1960, he was appointed music director of Chico Hamilton's band. He also penned music for Hamilton, with his albums Impulse!, Passin' Thru, and Man from Two Worlds, all featuring Charles Lloyd's songs. He parted ways with Hamilton in '64, joining the Cannonball Adderley Sextet. That same year, he released Discovery!, his debut album as a leader. The album was followed by Of Course Of Course the following year. Also in 1965, Charles Lloyd formed his own quartet that featured Keith Jarrett on piano, Jack De Johnette on drums, and Cecil McBee on bass. They released the albums Dream Weaver (1966) and Forest Flower: Live at Monterey (1967), which became one of the first jazz albums to sell one million copies. The '70s was a quiet decade for Charles Lloyd, just appearing as a sideman for a few groups here and there. He toured with Michel Petrucciani in 1981 and regained his place in the world of jazz. In the late '80s, he signed with ECM, and released albums such as Fish Out of Water (1990), Canto (1997), Voice in the Night (1999), The Water is Wide (2000), and Lift Every Voice (2002). Charles Lloyd celebrated his 75th birthday in 2013 with a series of concerts in America followed by the announcement that he was being awarded the NEA Jazz Masters Award for 2015. He released a live record, Wild Man Dance, later that year, and was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. Not one to fade into obscurity, at the age of 79 he released I Long to See You (2017), an album credited to Charles Lloyd and the Marvels. Featuring guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Reuben Rogers, drummer Eric Harland, and Greg Leisz on the pedal steel guitar, the record featured guest vocals from Norah Jones and Willie Nelson. Passin' Thru, a live album recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival, was also released in 2017. Charles Lloyd remained a prolific recording artist and continued to release albums including Vanished Gardens (2018), 8: Kindred Spirits (Live from the Lobero) (2020), Tone Poem (2021), Trios: Chapel (2022), Trios: Ocean (2022), Trios: Sacred Thread (2022), The Sky Will Be There Tomorrow (2024), and Figure in Blue (2025).
