released 2013 in Germany by ECM Records (ECM 2316-20)
Genre: Jazz
This 5-CD box set in ECMs Old & New Masters series, issued in time for Charles Lloyds 75th birthday in March 2013, looks back at the beginning of the great saxophonists association with ECM. It includes the albums Fish Out Of Water, Notes from Big Sur, The Call, All My Relations and Canto. All five albums were recorded in Oslo (between 1989 and 1996) with Manfred Eicher producing and they chart a particularly rich and creative period in Lloyds musical life. Fish Out Of Water marked Lloyds comeback, after long years in retreat from the jazz scene. He was partnered by Scandinavian players who had been inspired by his trailblazing music of the 1960s and who were able both to support and challenge him. A particularly strong bond was forged with pianist Bobo Stenson, heard on all of the discs here, who was to become one of the most important contributors to the inner architecture of Lloyds group music. As Charles said in 1995, I don t really assume authorship. I m very proud of my orchestra, but its not about someones solo. Its about those miraculous moments when the music opens up and you know youre home. The box includes liner notes by Thomas Conrad and session photography by Dorothy Darr.