EBALUNGA!!! PRESENTS THE FIRST VINYL REISSUE OF CHARLES LLOYD’S PATHLESS PATH
By the end of the 1960s, Charles Lloyd was one of the biggest names in jazz. His quartet with Keith Jarrett, Cecil McBee and Jack DeJohnette reached far beyond the usual jazz audience, while Forest Flower became one of the first jazz recordings to sell a million copies.
In 1970, at the height of his career, Lloyd disbanded the quartet and withdrew to Big Sur. He continued to make records from time to time, but largely disappeared from the jazz scene while following a more inward and spiritual path.
Pathless Path was recorded in 1978 and released by Unity Records in 1979. It comes from this quieter period in Lloyd’s career and remains one of the most unusual records in his catalogue.
Lloyd plays tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet, piano and voice. He is joined by Mara Purl on koto, Mark Isham on synthesizer, Peter Maunu on acoustic guitar, Patrick O’Hearn on acoustic and electric bass, Kim Calkins on percussion and Ed Drayton on vocals. Isham, Maunu and O’Hearn would later record together as Group 87.
The music moves freely between spiritual jazz, ambient and early new age. On the eleven-minute title piece, Lloyd’s piano and clarinet are paired with Purl’s koto, while The Call is constructed from two overdubbed flutes. In 1983, the title track was featured in the first nationally syndicated broadcast of Music from the Hearts of Space.
The same recording also exists on ADC Records under the title Koto, an edition that is now exceptionally difficult to find.
Now Ebalunga!!! brings Pathless Path back to vinyl for the first time since 1979. Mastered by GRAMMY-nominated mastering and restoration engineer Jessica Thompson.
