The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow

by Charles Lloyd

Overview

In his sleeve notes for The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow, Charles Lloyd reflects on himself as a naive young man who thought he could replace the world's ugliness with beauty and his generation's unrealized hope to "right the ship" through action, creation, and empathy. Almost discouraged by the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020s state of the world, he assembled this quartet "... to make an offering of tenderness...." Pianist Jason Moran and bassist Larry Grenadier have worked (separately) with Lloyd before. He has known drummer Brian Blade for years but hadn't worked with him. The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow is Lloyd's 11th Blue Note album, and was released on his 86th birthday. Its two discs contain six unreleased compositions, seven revisioned catalog selections, and new readings of two traditional songs. It is bookended with the quietly stunning "Defiant, Tender Warrior." Introduced by rumbling tom-toms and a triadic vamp from Moran, Grenadier frames the changes before Lloyd enters, offering a languid melody he improvises on at every turn, as the trio plays mantra-like behind him. As the tension gently builds, Lloyd solos and searches, finding aesthetic and spiritual connection with his mates while Moran elegantly builds out the harmonic ledge. "The Lonely One, originally on 2022's Trios: Ocean, retains its lyric core, though here it's more exploratory. On "Monk's Dance," the pianist accesses Fats Waller, Jelly Roll Morton, and Ben Bernie & His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra-referencing "Sweet Georgia Brown" as Lloyd engages him in buoyant conversation. He plays flute on "Booker's Garden," a gorgeous modal blues for friend and fellow Memphian Booker Little. Led by Moran, "Ghost of Lady Day" is a spacious, inquisitive meditation on the "sound" of the singer who deeply moved the young Lloyd while listening to late-night jazz radio. The emotional title track commences with rugged group conversation using post-bop until Moran drops a blues vamp on the band. Lloyd, accompanied by Blade and Grenadier, solos, weaving smooth blues and gospel lines with West Coast jazz accents. Lloyd reworks "Beyond Darkness" on flute to gently explore chamber jazz with the quartet. Moran's solo is at once incisive and quite intuitive. Folk standards "Balm in Gilead" and "Lift Every Voice and Sing" are sequenced together, followed directly by "When the Sun Comes Up, The Darkness Is Gone." Each song combines deep listening with confident group improv while remaining faithful to the lyric melody inherent in each. Lloyd resurrects "Cape to Cairo" from 1995's All My Relations. Its sparse intro, asserted by the saxophonist's tenor and Moran's elliptical accents, frames Blade's rolling toms and Grenadier's rich, woody tone. Closer "Defiant, Reprise; Homeward Dove" joins the gentle, folk-like melody to a circular, minor-key modal ballad while gently invoking the exploratory spirits of Pharoah Sanders and Jim Pepper. Lloyd has released a large catalog filled of truly fine recordings. The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow stands as one of his best late-career master works. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	03/15/2024
Label:	Blue Note
UPC:	0602458167962
Rank:	29887

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Defiant, Tender Warrior
2. The Lonely One
3. Monk's Dance
4. The Water Is Rising
5. Late Bloom
6. Booker's Garden
7. Ghost Of Lady Day
8. The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow

Disc 2

9. Beyond Darkness
10. Sky Valley, Spirit Of The Forest
11. Balm In Gilead
12. Lift Every Voice And Sing
13. When The Sun Comes Up, Darkness Is Gone
14. Cape To Cairo
15. Defiant, Reprise; Homeward Dove

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Charles Lloyd   Primary Artist,Saxophone
Brian Blade   Drums
Jason Moran   Piano
Larry Grenadier   Bass