The Jazztopad Festival in Wroclaw commissioned Lloyd to compose Wild Man Dance for its tenth anniversary. He was given a free hand. More than anything else, he was excited by the question of how to capture the natural and environmental features of the city of Wrocław in music while striving to express the feeling of freedom that music provides. Lloyd had originally planned a string quartet instead of a saxophone, piano, double bass and drums quartet, before his ideas took a new direction. He has worked alongside Sokratis Sinopoulos in the past, while Miklós Lukács caught his eye when performing as a guest musician in Lloyd's 2012 performance at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall. Due to illness, the cimbalom virtuoso will not be able to participate in this concert.
Another reason that 2015 was a particularly memorable year for Charles Lloyd: he received an NEA Jazz Masters award, the highest national honor for jazz musicians in the United States. It was well-deserved, as despite his reserved, contemplative personality, his name is tied to some of the most important milestones in the history of jazz. He worked with Phineas Newborn and Cannonball Adderley, helped Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette start their careers, and has also sought out new paths with the Hungarian Gábor Szabó.

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Presented by: Müpa Budapest