June 10, 2026
Charles Lloyd pays homage to his dear friend and longtime collaborator Zakir Hussain with the July 24 release of Sangam & Friends, an extraordinary document of the deep musical affinity between the legendary saxophonist/flutist and tabla master along with their Sangam trio mate drummer Eric Harland. The album is built around studio recordings made in Mumbai in 2009 for an album that was begun but never completed featuring an expanded ensemble with Carnatic singer Vijay Prakash, Rakesh Chaurasia on bansuri, Sabir Khan on sarangi, Ranjit Barot on keyboard, and Niladri Kumar on sitar.
“In 2009, Zakir brought Charles to India to be part of his annual ‘Abbaji’ concert which honors his father, Alla Rakha,” writes producer Dorothy Darr in the album’s evocative liner notes. “Experiencing India for the first time was intense and magnificent—Mumbai is a mass of humanity, with multilayers of sound, resplendent colors, and exotic flavors. It resonated with us on every level.”
“On the night of the ‘Abbaji’ concert,” Darr continues, “Sangam was joined on stage by a myriad of musicians and instruments—the haunting cry of the many stringed sarangi, sylvan and luminous melodies from the bansuri, the most classic of Indian sounds emanating from a sitar—and voice. In the days following the musical offering to Alla Rakha we went to Nirvana Studio to delve deeper into the waterfalls and eddies that had been stirred up.”
Most of Sangam & Friends was made over that one day in February 2009. The ensemble intended to convene again in the future to complete the album, but the Universe had other plans. Additional material—including the bright, propulsive lead single “Jai Ganga” featuring Lloyd, Hussain, and Harland—were drawn from the Sangam archives.
