Sangam & Friends
Charles Lloyd
Charles Lloyd’s Sangam & Friends is a 2026 Blue Note release that revisits the saxophonist and flutist’s long-running musical connection with Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain and drummer Eric Harland. It functions partly as a tribute to Hussain, who died in 2024, and partly as a long-delayed continuation of the trio’s cross-cultural Sangam project. The seven-track, 45-minute album combines previously unreleased 2009 Mumbai studio recordings with three live trio performances, creating a spacious meeting point between modern jazz improvisation and North Indian classical traditions.
Lloyd’s tenor saxophone and flute are joined by Hussain’s intricate tabla patterns and Harland’s responsive drumming, while the studio material expands the group with Vijay Prakash’s vocals, Rakesh Chaurasia on bansuri flute, Sabir Khan on sarangi, Niladri Kumar on electric sitar, and Ranjit Barot on keyboards. Tracks including “The Blessing,” “Jai Ganga,” “Bharati’s Dance, Tempo Divine,” “Eternal Dreamer,” and “Sam on the Ganges” emphasize dialogue rather than stylistic fusion for its own sake: Lloyd’s long, sinuous lines converse with cyclical rhythms, vocal ornaments, and the timbres of Indian instruments. The opening “Clear the Dust” and live “Tagore” provide more intimate entry points, while the album as a whole feels both reverent and exploratory—an elegiac document of friendship, spiritual curiosity, and deeply attentive ensemble improvisation.
Sangam & Friends
Charles Lloyd
Charles Lloyd’s Sangam & Friends is a 2026 Blue Note release that revisits the saxophonist and flutist’s long-running musical connection with Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain and drummer Eric Harland. It functions partly as a tribute to Hussain, who died in 2024, and partly as a long-delayed continuation of the trio’s cross-cultural Sangam project. The seven-track, 45-minute album combines previously unreleased 2009 Mumbai studio recordings with three live trio performances, creating a spacious meeting point between modern jazz improvisation and North Indian classical traditions.
Lloyd’s tenor saxophone and flute are joined by Hussain’s intricate tabla patterns and Harland’s responsive drumming, while the studio material expands the group with Vijay Prakash’s vocals, Rakesh Chaurasia on bansuri flute, Sabir Khan on sarangi, Niladri Kumar on electric sitar, and Ranjit Barot on keyboards. Tracks including “The Blessing,” “Jai Ganga,” “Bharati’s Dance, Tempo Divine,” “Eternal Dreamer,” and “Sam on the Ganges” emphasize dialogue rather than stylistic fusion for its own sake: Lloyd’s long, sinuous lines converse with cyclical rhythms, vocal ornaments, and the timbres of Indian instruments. The opening “Clear the Dust” and live “Tagore” provide more intimate entry points, while the album as a whole feels both reverent and exploratory—an elegiac document of friendship, spiritual curiosity, and deeply attentive ensemble improvisation.