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Jul 12, 2018Lloyd, the Marvels, and Williams cover an array of emotions while remaining well focused in sound (with the exception of “Monk’s Mood,” pretty enough for inclusion anyhow). It’s an impressive take by a roster of stars given over to the bigger idea.
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Jul 10, 2018Vanished Gardens sits in a sweet spot for Charles Lloyd, putting him at an intersection of different forms that have defined his career, from jazz standards to American pop singing, to meditative roots music. Despite early success, the recorded evidence is that Lloyd--at 80--is in his mature prime. May it continue.
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Jul 9, 2018Too bad Williams doesn’t sing on the plaintive Ballad of the Sad Young Men. Otherwise, this unexpected collaboration doesn’t miss a trick.
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Jun 27, 2018Lloyd complements Williams’s plaintive growl with his own tenor saxophone cries, in some cases the obbligatos becoming an ongoing commentary. ... “Blues for Langston and LaRue” shows off Lloyd’s buoyant flute work. The Lloyd/Frisell duet on Thelonious Monk’s “Monk’s Mood” is capacious and endearing. And the album closer, Jim Hendrix’s “Angel”--with just the trio of Williams, Frisell, and Lloyd--is a spare and apt benediction, dispelling darkness with the faith of art.
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MojoJun 27, 2018Vanished Gardens is ultimately an uplifting and deeply satisfying record, due mostly to Lloyd's ethereal saxophone, which complements Williams beautifully. [Aug 2018, p.95]
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UncutJun 27, 2018The five instrumental tracks are luminescent master classes in intuitive ensemble playing, too, Lloyd's sax as lyrical as Williams' poetry and matched by the inventiveness of the Marvels. [Aug 2018, p.30]
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Jun 29, 2018Interestingly, the uneven moments on Vanished Gardens have more to do with the Marvels' reticence on the standards. Otherwise, the pairing of this band with Williams sounds natural, effortless, and holistic. There's definitely room for a sequel.
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Jun 27, 2018As diverse as the material here is, there's no sense that Lloyd is putting on different hats. Like his career as a whole, Vanished Gardens shows how the many currents of American music all flow into a single stream.