サックス奏者/作曲家のチャールズ・ロイドは、自由な精神、優れた音楽家、そして先見の明を持ち続けている84歳。今もなお、その才能は絶頂期にあり、かつてないほど多作である。音の探求者であるロイドは、おそらく、彼の最新プロジェクトである「トリオ・オブ・トリオ」以上に素晴らしいものを見出していないはずだ。
異なるトリオ編成の3枚のアルバムを包含する「トリオ・オブ・トリオ」プロジェクトの3枚目!ギタリストのジュリアン・レイジとパーカッショニストのザキール・フセインが参加している「Sacred Thread」。

180g重量盤LP。

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2022/10/21）

Trios: Sacred Thread is the third and final album in Charles Lloyds Trio of Trios project in 2022. Its releases offer three different triads in concert settings, its players recruited from the saxophonists vast stable of collaborators. Trios: Chapel, with guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Thomas Morgan, appeared in June offering jazz and Latin standards and Lloyd compositions dating back to the early 1960s. Trios: Ocean, with guitarist Anthony Wilson and pianist Gerald Clayton, followed in September. Its program was composed of four originals offered as vehicles for lengthy improvisation. Trios: Sacred Thread places the saxophonist/composer in the company of guitarist Julian Lage and Indian percussionist/vocalist Zakir Hussain. On September 26, 2020, Lloyd livestreamed this concert for a virtual audience from Sonoma County, California. It is the only one of these three releases to include percussion and vocals, and the only entry to include compositions from another member of the group: Hussain wrote three of these seven tunes. Set opener "Desolation Sound" is a ballad that originally appeared on 2010s Mirror. Lloyds intimate, bluesy phrasing is painted by tablas and elegant chord voicings on electric guitar. Lages solo follows Lloyds own tender statement with denser, dark-tinged chords and eerie single lines. The saxophonist doesnt appear on "Guman," a brief guru devotion sung by Hussain in raga style with Lage as his accompanist. It segues into Lloyds "Nachekitas Lament" (from 1998s Canto). The track follows the raga blueprint until the middle, then Hussains moaning vocal chant and hand drums color Lages droning modal blues chords. Lloyds canny flute solo engages both players as the drama increases. There is some very inventive call-and-response between guitar, tablas, and voice in the final section. Lloyd plays tarogato on Hussains brief, spiritual interlude "Saraswati," offered for the Hindu goddess of music and art. It introduces the percussionists "Kuti," a long ballad commenced by a lilting flute. Lages melodic chord voicings offer assonant support as Hussain sings. Halfway through, percussion increases the tempo as Lloyd and Lage dialogue. The guitarists solo is particularly canny, with a diverse palette of shorts lines and phrases offering a multi-dimensional harmonic foundation. An earlier version of "Tales of Rumi" appeared on 2006s Sangam (featuring Hussain). Introduced by mridangam and tablas, it bubbles and flows before his bandmates enter juxtaposing Eastern (Lloyd) and Western (Lage) themes and harmonies. Closer "The Blessing" has a long history: Lloyd first performed it live in 1983 with pianist Michel Petrucciani. He later recorded a radically different version for 1993s The Call with a quartet. This one is delivered mostly as a duo between Lloyds resonant tenor and Lages mysterious, constantly illustrative six-string shapes. Hussain later underscores it from the margin with carefully placed handbells to which the guitarist responds with drama. Trios: Sacred Thread is the fitting sendoff volume for the project. Its tunes are wrought with nearly symbiotic aesthetic interplay, spiritual connection, intimacy, and even tenderness. ~ Thom Jurek

Rovi