CHARLES LLOYD – THE SKY WILL STILL BE THERE TOMORROW (2024) (2 x CD; 2 x LP) (Blue Note)

Following his successful trio of “Trios” albums last year, Charles Lloyd is back in age defying form at 86 (and I just heard BOB DYLAN, at 83, is coming to the Royal Albert Hall and Edinburgh’s Usher Hall later in the year).

“The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow” not only has a great title, but is a consistently great album. Lloyd has created a new classic on ‘Monk’s Dance’ while you can literally hear the synergy between the musicians on another instant classic ‘Booker’s Garden’ with reference to trumpeter BOOKER LITTLE. ‘Sky Valley, Spirit of the Forest’ is also rapidly becoming a personal favourite: evocative, impressionistic and epic (and I don’t use that word lightly) over its 15-minute length, its haunting theme resurfacing at intervals, insistent piano (Jason Moran) and rolling drums (Brian Blade) at its climax. ‘Beyond Darkness’ has marvellous rippling piano and Lloyd’s mellifluous flute, and the music on the album is very melodic, only occasionally dipping into the avant-garde on numbers like ‘The Ghost of Lady Day’. There are two spirituals: a gorgeous 3-minute reading of ‘Balm in Gilead’ and ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ (of similar length). The sounds Lloyd coaxes from his sax are quite incredible and it’s also amazing to think that this is a brand-new quartet for him, completed by bassist Larry Grenadier, who just happens to play on one of my favourite Lloyd albums “The Water is Wide”.