"Migration of the Spirit" slows the pace down considerably, as Lloyd plays in his signature lyrical fashion, with an almost melancholy feel. It's ethereal-ness gives it a Coltrane vibe. For "Booker's Garden," inspired by his long-deceased trumpeter friend from childhood Booker Little, Lloyd switches over to flute, and plays it in a funky style as Moran vamps along nicely.

For "Rumanujan," Lloyd performs with a tarogato, a single-reed wind instrument popular in Romania and sounding very much like an soprano saxophone. With it, he plays a tribal folk-dance that's been part of his range of styles since the late sixties. Moran is channeling McCoy Tyner wonderfully within the space Lloyd gives him.

"La Coline De Monk," as the name implies, is revealed to have been influenced by Thelonius' own challenging, quirky composition style. Moran begins the piece a capella, before the leader trades fours with him. It's a real treat to hear masters old and new converse with each other like this in some personal musical language that only the two understand. The song functions as an extended lead-in to the bop tune "Sweet Georgia Night." Originally from Lloyd's days as a member of Cannonball Adderley's group, "Sweet Georgia Night," is a longtime entry in his concert sets, and a crowd favorite.

The title cut "Rabo de Nube" is the only non-Lloyd composition of the set; it was penned by Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodriguez, and it translates to "Tail Of A Cloud". Nonetheless, it's a sweet ballad in the mode of Lloyd's own classic "Forest Flower" and it's little wonder that he's long been fond of this song. The amateur video below shows a different performance of that song, but with the same band at probably around the same time as the Basel concert.

Just a few days after the March 11 release of Rabo de Nube, Lloyd turned seventy years old. This live shows the old master sounding as vibrant and still as full of ideas as his bandmates half his age. He's as much in command of his music as he was during the Flower Power days when he was the favorite jazz man of the San Francisco Bay crowd. And to think, I nearly overlooked another in a long string of solid recordings by him. You take Charles Lloyd for granted at your own risk.