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Pieces of a Dream to perform in Midway

By Walter Tunis Contributing Music Writer

The first time James Lloyd performed in Lexington with Pieces of a Dream, he was wearing an unusual fashion accessory: a cast that encased most of his left arm.

The school of elemental thought for any professional musician dictates that an arm cast is often not the most preferred of performance devices. That's especially true when said cast is in place to heal a broken bone.

”I broke my left wrist three days before a three-month tour with Grover,“ Lloyd recalled, referring to Grover Washington Jr., the late saxophonist whose music bridged worlds of jazz, pop and vintage soul. ”So basically I was a left-handed keyboard player who was playing piano, Fender Rhodes (electric piano) and synth. It was definitely a memorable time for me.“

For this famed ”one-handed“ Lexington debut, a Memorial Hall concert in the fall of 1983, Lloyd was part of a Pieces of a Dream lineup that was already creating a sturdy national buzz through an ongoing alliance with Washington. Pieces was also forging its own national fan base through radio hits like Fo Fi Fo and Mount Airy Groove.

But Lloyd and company will be more than well-healed when they return to town this weekend as part of the African American Forum's ongoing series of smooth jazz concerts. In the 25 years since the Memorial Hall performance, Pieces of a Dream has become a cornerstone smooth jazz group with top-selling albums for the Elektra, Blue Note and, most recently, Heads Up labels. Lloyd, the band's principal composer, has also penned compositions for Najee, Walter Beasley, Wayman Tisdale and others.

”I draw from everyday life for inspiration,“ Lloyd said. ”Sometimes that is the musical inspiration itself. Personally, I feel I have to experience some of what's going on from life itself and then draw from that.“

Smooth beginnings

The nucleus for Pieces of a Dream came together in 1975, when Lloyd, drummer Curtis Harmon and bassist Cedric Napoleon joined forces in a thriving Philadelphia music scene.

”We're definitely a product of our ­environment,“ Lloyd said. ”There was a lot of music — funk, jazz and soul — coming out of Philadelphia. You can't help but be influenced by the music you actually grow up around.“

Enter fellow Philadelphian ­Washington, who signed Pieces of a Dream to his new production while Lloyd was in high school. The two acts toured together frequently until Washington's death from a heart attack in 1999.

”Very often in concert, we'll do a song of his in tribute to Grover. Yeah, he is still a big part of what we do. Even though he's not physically here with us, his spirit is with us.“

Napoleon left the band after the release of 1986's album Joyride, although Pieces of a Dream remains to this day very much a family enterprise. Lloyd and Harmon are still close bandmates, and Pieces is managed — just as the band was when it began — by Danny and Bill Harmon, the drummer's father and uncle.

”Curtis and I have been playing together for so long now that it's like second nature,“ Lloyd said. ”The band's longevity kind of spills over into the music, too. That's ­especially true onstage. Curtis and I, when we're playing together, have a sort of telepathy going on. We don't even have to look at each other to know where one another is going.“

Balancing electronic and acoustic

And then there is the music — a strongly pop-conscious, upbeat sound driven by keyboards. While guitar often rounds out the band's sound, Lloyd's keyboards provide the architecture for most of the band's tunes, especially the ones on 2006's album Pillow Talk.

But the key is in the balance of ­electronic and acoustic sounds. ­Synthesizers and ­Rhodes keyboard might provide the ­orchestration and propel the groove, but the primary solo instrumental voice is acoustic piano.

”I think acoustic piano, especially the way it mixes with electric instruments, has become a major part of Pieces of a Dream's signature sound,“ Lloyd said. ”It all blends well.“

A new studio album is in the works. And for Lloyd, touring and recording with Pieces of a Dream remains very much a dream job.

”I'm living a dream,“ he said. ”I work here in my home studio, write, roll out of bed, and write some more until I pass out. I mean, who could ask for a better job?

”Every now and then, I get to go out on the road, travel, see the world and meet people. I get to take my wife as often as ­possible, too, to special places like Africa.“

”It's like living a vacation and getting paid for it.“