It’s rainy.  It’s Monday.  The double.  There are two dominant responses.  One is the upbeat-to-overcome.  We’re not feeling that one right now.  The other is redemptive reflection.  That’s the one right now.

The perfect soundtrack to any mood can always be found in jazz, including today’s indigo. And one of our favorites is Santa Barbara resident Charles Lloyd, who has been subtly supplying some of the best jazz recordings and performances in the genre on-and-off for nearly 60 years (Lloyd just turned 75 in March).  Recently he has collaborated with insightful young pianist Jason Moran.  Today Lloyd and Moran’s collaborations on “covers” of a couple of Brian Wilson’s songs are meshing perfectly with the day’s surroundings.  (The covers are a natural since Lloyd played on some of The Beach Boys studio recordings and was a member of their touring band in the late ’60s and ’70s).  Check out two examples of the Lloyd/Moran/Quartet collaboration below: the gorgeous God Only Knows off the recent Lloyd/Moran album Hagar’s Song and a live recording of Caroline No.   Lloyd explained the cover of the latter to Charles Donelan of The Independent:  “The Beach Boys have been friends and allies for me since the beginning. I love Brian Wilson and what he can do with harmony. ‘Caroline, No’ has a lot of yearning in it, and a kind of wistfulness. Caroline’s a sad girl, but I made her mine. I feel like I just kind of took her up here on the hill and held her hand for a while. So that’s how that one came about.”

Check both covers below, and then go buy the fantastic Hagar’s Song HERE.

If you need more, check out at bottom the revered concert video of the Lloyd/Zakir Hussain/Eric Harland “Sangam Trio” collaboration.