Last weekend I had a chance to see the incredible Charles Lloyd, with Jason Moran, Larry Grenadier, and Eric Harland at the newly redesigned SFJazz Festival. It was a full circle moment

The first time I saw him play was at my very first concert - at the old Honolulu International Center Arena - opening for the Beach Boys. Me and my friend Mark were barely in middle school and his dad dropped us off to wander into a crowd of aloha-shirt wearing, potsmoking hippies.

I don’t know if they dug Charles that night, he was blazing out sheets of notes on sax and flute - but I do remember we didn’t. At some point we started shouting, “Come on! Surfing USA, man!”

Brian Wilson wasn’t there and Mike Love led the pickup band through a sluggish set, disappointing even for us 12 year old superfans.

Dude, youth is fucking wasted on the young.

Last Friday, Charles and Jason opened with a woozy, meditative and simply gorgeous duet of “God Only Knows.” And all of us in the auditorium floated into the universe for the next 90 minutes.

My man Nate Chinen put it best. He sounded “enlightened.”

Nate is one of my favorite music critics and, self admittedly, one of “last concert writers standing.” He wrote up the whole festival here - it’s a wonderful read and will make you wish you had been there with us.

Thanks SFJazz and thanks Nate!