Reviews

I hope this movie inspires someone to put out a DVD set (or streaming) of performances from this festival. The performance clips we get are generally fantastic (do wonder if that was the only BB King tape surviving because his clip is a bit of a mess). Overall I think the interviews and historical context descriptions give great insight into the period and circumstances of the festival which deepen the film.

I haven't been so moved by a film in a long time.

It's hard to be objective because I've loved the music of Charles Lloyd since I discovered his first "comeback" CD in the 80s. The film is a beautiful portrait of Lloyd's life spent dedicated to music as a means to a spiritual life. It is generous in spirit and balances commentary from Lloyd and his many fantastic friends and collaborators with a bunch of footage and music from his whole career.

The musical choices are fantastic and the level of playing is astonishing. Lloyd makes music that is deeply spiritual, by turns powerful and edgy, and gentle and lyrical. His bandmates in every era have been among the best living musicians, committed to making the most alive and beautiful music possible. This film celebrates the journey that has been Lloyd's life and succeeds brilliantly.

I hope the DVD has lots more concert outtakes. One thing that is clear by the end of the movie is that the music Lloyd is making now at age 75 is as alive and vital as ever. His current collaborators, Zakir Hussain, Eric Harland, Rueben Rogers and Jason Moran are among the best jazz (and world) musicians of our time and they're called on to bring everything they have every time they play with Charles.

I loved it wholeheartedly.