The Water Is Wide

1	Georgia 6:38
2	The Water Is Wide 5:02
3	Black Butterfly 4:36
4	Ballade and Allegro 3:45
5	Figure in Blue 5:13
6	Lotus Blossom 5:39
7	The Monk and the Mermaid 8:35
8	Song of Her 7:37
9	Lady Day 7:29
10	Heaven 4:15
11	There Is a Balm in Gilead 5:13
12	Prayer 4:19

Barnes & Noble

What a gorgeous recording this is. Tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd is among the most lyrical players in jazz, and on The Water Is Wide, he's surrounded himself with four similarly inclined musicians: pianist Brad Mehldau, drummer Billy Higgins, guitarist John Abercrombie, and bassist Larry Grenadier (bassist Daraek Oles also appears on the concluding "Prayer"). Ballads and mid-tempo performances predominate, giving everyone the chance to display their abundant melodic gifts. Pianist Mehldau, who can come across as sleep-inducing on his own recordings, is inspired throughout, his solos strong, and his sensitive chording providing a perfect fit for Lloyd's always-affecting improvisatory explorations. The leader's sound can make you swoon, so penetrating is its tonal poetry; few horn men today can deliver a ballad like him. Ranging from Ellington and Strayhorn tunes to spirituals, originals, and a hearty standard ("Georgia"), the repertoire allows Lloyd and his exceptional supporting team to dig deep and find the gold within each melody. Lloyd has been turning out great recordings for ECM for the past few years; this mellow masterwork is no exception. Steve Futterman

All Music Guide

Like 1999's Voice in the Night, The Water Is Wide features Charles Lloyd in the company of one of his dearest friends, drummer Billy Higgins, who would pass away less than a year after the album's release. Guitarist John Abercrombie also remains on board, but Lloyd extends the group's generational span by recruiting two younger players: pianist Brad Mehldau and bassist Larry Grenadier. The album begins with a straightforward, elegant reading of Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia." Lloyd goes on to lead his ensemble through two lesser-known Ellington pieces, "Black Butterfly" and "Heaven"; Strayhorn's "Lotus Blossom"; two original ballads, "Figure In Blue" and "Lady Day"; and Cecil McBee's "Song of Her," a track from Lloyd's 1968 classic, Forest Flower. It's a glorious amalgam of sound: the leader's unique, glissando-laden phraseology, Mehldau's harmonic nuances, unerring rhythmic backbone from Grenadier and the majestic Higgins -- and only occasionally, pointed and eloquent guitarism from Abercrombie. The session ascends to an even higher level with the inclusion of two spirituals, "The Water Is Wide" and "There Is a Balm in Gilead." The latter features just Lloyd and Higgins, starkly setting the melody against a hypnotic drum chant. In addition, Lloyd's closing "Prayer," written for Higgins during a life-threatening episode back in 1996, features just the composer, Abercrombie, and guest bassist Darek Oles. (Oddly, Oles' credit is relegated to the fine print.) These tracks, most of all, resonate with personal meaning and profundity. David R. Adler