Saxophonist Lloyd at Top of Form

It would probably be unfair to describe saxophonist Charles Lloyd’s remarkable playing at the Jazz Bakery on Friday, in the opening set of a two-night stand, as a “comeback.” He has, after all, been an active player since the early ‘80s, when he returned to action after drifting through more transcendental music in the ‘70s.

Still, his playing before a packed house at the Bakery was energized with a dynamism that has raised his performances--for at least the past year or so--to a strikingly high level of achievement. Lloyd obviously felt extremely comfortable with an ensemble that virtually duplicated the quartet on his latest recording, “Voice in the Night” (ECM), with guitarist John Abercrombie, drummer Billy Higgins and bassist Marc Johnson (replacing Dave Holland). And much of the unannounced program was based upon material from the album.

Lloyd has always had roots in the ‘60s in general--and in John Coltrane in particular--but with traces of such disparate styles as those of Albert Ayler and Warne Marsh. Lloyd’s current work flows from a much more personal artistic vision, one that is an expression of a mature use of the elements that, in the past, often were employed in a more derivative fashion.

His slower playing was ravishingly romantic, soaring passionately through the high, altissimo register of his tenor saxophone, filled with a vocalized lyricism. And the vocal metaphor continued to be applied to his rapid playing, which used every resource of his instrument--multiphonics, squeals, honks and growls--to produce solos ranging from passionate preaching to shamanistic ritualizing. At a time when so many younger players seem trapped in rote-like repetitions of the past, it was a distinct pleasure to hear a mature artist (Lloyd is 61) willing and eager to imaginatively expand the envelope of his music.

He was partnered well by Abercrombie, whose smooth flowing lines, with their subtle edginess, provided the perfect counter to Lloyd’s explorations. And Higgins’ irrepressible sense of swing blended surprisingly well with Johnson’s roving lines. But the night belonged to Lloyd, an artist who is producing music that clearly deserves to be heard by a wider audience.