To further my understanding of Jazz, I'm listening through Jazzwise Magazine's "The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World". Each album is presented with my stream-of-consciousness thoughts for each track, my general thoughts of the album as a whole, and any relevant information I can capture about the album. Also included is my drink of choice while taking the album in. Thank you for joining me on my journey to [partial] Jazz enlightenment.
Album 76
Charles Lloyd - Dream Weaver
Drinking: Water
- "Autumn Sequence": The title intrigues me, as do the flutes that begin this piece. It provokes feelings of delicateness and serenity. With slight hints of woe, or sorrow. The flute performance is excellent. I see sweeping brushstrokes of white, and light grey, followed by dark purples and black. At around 1:20 we swing into a mellow jazz moment with some skillful drum playing backboned by the walking bass and piano. The flute continues to riff over this combo, and it feels quite refreshing to listen to. I'm quite invested in this moment as I've always loved the flute, as I grew up on a steady diet of Jethro Tull. While it's not Prog Rock, the flute and experimental nature of Jazz, specifically this piece, feel more similar than dissimilar to my taste. Near the three-minute mark, we enter a different piece that brings back the colder feeling of the intro, tying it nicely to the title. Near the fourth minute, we segue into a piano solo that is equally as enjoyable as the flute solo. The mixing job on this track is excellent, nothing is too lost in the mix, everything can be heard without having to look very heard. Well done! The drums under this section as it passes the five-minute mark are adding some excellent flavor to the mix as well as play with the dynamic range of the instrument. As we come around the six-minute mark the piano escalates into some loud notes and clears the way for a sliding bass solo backboned by a single cymbal. I have to admit, it's not my favorite bass solo on the planet, especially since it loses the flowing nature of the previous soloists. Pulling it out of the context of the track, it's alright. The band joins back in around the 7:50 mark, although at a much lower volume of playing. The structure of the song destabilizes around the eight-minute mark, as each instrument seems to be living inside its own pocket. An interesting choice to make. At 9:20 everything drops out and the flute takes a true solo. Hearing the performer's breath whispering behind the notes is fascinating. The piano chimes in with eerie notes and this tension develops that stews for a while and brings the listener back to a moment similar to the intro before coming to a crashing end. What a delightful journey this has been.
- "Dream Weaver: Meditation, Dervish Dance": This begins with an equally unique intro, but instead of starting with a flute it's a saxophone. Behind that is a bowed bass, and flighty piano moments. The chords the piano is playing around are beautiful. It's hard to describe the music outside of describing an artist painting on a canvas while observing a cold sunrise. It's beautiful. The note the sax plays at 2:04 is heart-wrenching in its emotion. This whole passage gives my skin tingles. Meditation is a perfect way to title this song. At 3:12 we enter a more traditional sound of a full band. I don't want to say it's a welcomed respite from the emotions of the earlier part of the track, but it does embrace me with something comforting. The layers of sound this part works with are huge, and it fills the air with colorful playing. The saxophone player does a great job of soloing without needing to shred. While I enjoy a good shred session, it can be quite refreshing to hear someone speak through a few notes and some choice presentation. The piano takes a solo near 5:50, and it's equally good. There's a swing to it, while also feeling free-floating. This passage is so beautiful. Around the seven-minute mark, the song loses structure and enters something more like free-playing over a riffing drum and bass loop. It captivates me more than other free-playing moments though. The sax returns at 8:34 and is playing over these swirling piano chords. It's dreamlike, dare I even psychedelic. The sax returns to riffs similar to the passages near the three-minute mark. It sounds like a dream starting to fade in the early morning fog as the mind begins to wake up. At 10:40 we finish out the album on this fun funky moment. Again, quite an enjoyable journey.
- "Bird Flight": The song begins with a sax solo over what sounds like a drum solo. Much less dreamlike than the previous two songs, but the chops are taken for a walk. Impressive playing to say the least. The bass joins in at 0:55 and it takes off like a runaway vehicle. It's not very high in the mix, but it's there. The piano joins in around 1:18 and fills out the room. The pace reduces to something less frenetic around 1:38, and the saxophone comes up in the mix as it solos. "Bird Flight" is a good name for this song, but I can't imagine what kind of bird this would mimic. The piano takes a solo at 2:39, and it's a wobbly, noodling solo, but I like it. This continues through 5:08 when the bass starts taking over for its solo. Again, this player has skills and can play much better than I can, but there are aspects of his solo choices that don't speak to me at all. The bass continues until 6:50 where the drums take over. The ramp-up over the next few bars are excellent, and he holds us there in this repeating drum roll before rolling around the drum set for a while. The band rejoins the mix in full at 8:01 and the playout through the end.
- "Love Ship": We're back to a more sensitive side of music. Big slow piano arpeggios while the drums splash around the cymbals over choice bass notes while the sax speaks its words. This segues into a luscious piano solo that utilizes the sustain pedal just enough. For lack of better words, it's just nice to listen to. It gets a little spicier around 3:15 and then it runs right back into frantic sustained arpeggios. The sax returns around 4:10 with some soulful playing. Luscious comes back to my brain as the best word for what this sounds like. Parts of these performances feel like they were just released yesterday, not 1966, they're so fresh sounding. The end of this song echoes out into a cymbal crash.
- "Sombrero Sam": This track takes a big turn as it takes on a more Latin flavored turn. It's a lot of fun to listen to, and I bet it's even more fun to dance to. The piano playing is pretty sharp, holding the rhythm while throwing in little samples here and there. The bass playing redeems itself by holding onto this tight groove while the drums go absolutely ape. I can't help to think that this song was fun to perform. The flute comes back for a solo at 2:30, and it fits right in strangely enough. The energy level drops a bit around the 3:15 mark, and we stew in this quiet moment for a bit. It's nice because you can hear the bass a little better and the flute can really sit in the mix and tie it all together. It begins to ramp back up in energy at 3:40 as the flute starts going a little crazy. The song returns to the original jam from the beginning and we ride it out to the end of the song.
Overall Thoughts: I was enchanted by this album. Shockingly, I found that my favorite song was "Sombrero Sam", which I wasn't expecting. Next up was the title track followed by "Autumn Sequence". Love ship was nice to listen to, but it didn't pique my interest all that much. "Bird Flight" left me feeling flat. The mixing on this album was enchanting, and the flute solos were a welcome change from the last few albums. This was a solid album and I'm glad I've added it to my experience.
Info: This album was recorded in March of 1966, and released via the Atlantic label in the same year. It was produced by Arif Mardin and George Avakian. It features Charles Lloyd on tenor saxophone and flute, Keith Jarrett on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums.
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