Hyperion with Higgins. (More Jazz Than Not).

(ECM 1784 440 014 0002)

No, Charles Lloyd has not taken to playing with the fake-Brit-accented Higgins from Magnum P.I.--the title of this CD refers instead to the late drummer Billy Higgins, a veteran of something like 600 recordings, and a musician with whom Lloyd felt a strong and special spiritual and musical bond. The music on this CD was recorded in the same sessions that produced Lloyd's previous ECM recording, The Water is Wide. The musicians backing Lloyd include two-thirds of the Brad Mehldau Trio (Mehldau on piano and Larry Grenadier on bass), guitarist John Abercrombie, and Higgins on drums and percussion. In general, the music is a bit more bright and sprightly than that on The Water is Wide, and this time out, all of the compositions are by Lloyd.

Those who have followed Lloyd will be familiar with the way he blends playfulness and seriousness in his playing. His sound seems to float without a care, yet everything sounds deeply grounded. Mehldau's playing has something of a similar quality; perhaps this is the reason that Lloyd sought him out for these sessions. The only thing that does not quite work is Abercrombie's guitar. He is an excellent guitarist, but somehow he always sounds a bit out of place when trying to blend in with Lloyd and Mehldau. It is not as though he really brings things down, but he does not lift them up, and in general, the music flows better when he is laying out.

While not quite at the stellar level of some of Lloyd's earlier work for ECM, this is still a wonderful recording for jazz fans to treasure. Also is to be treasured is the thought of old masters such as Lloyd and Higgins working with and passing their secrets along to young masters such as Mehldau and Grenadier.

-KWN