Coryell

[kh1958]

20 hours ago, HutchFan said:

If you were to pick ONE personal-favorite (non-compilation) Coryell record, what would it be?

 

 

I'd likely go with Barefoot Boy.

 

Perhaps, Fairyland.

[felser]

1 hour ago, kh1958 said:

Perhaps, Fairyland.

"Barefoot Boy", "Offering" or "Fairyland" all get the job done. Barefoot Boy would also be my choice.

12 hours ago, Bill Nelson said:

Since 1970, my favorite has been 'Spaces' -- the LP of shared artistry among gifted, soon-to-be-famous peers of Coryell's.  A couple years later, the jazz fusion groups of McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra), Vitous (Weather Report), Cobham (Spectrum), and Corea (Return To Forever) would be filling large concert halls.  I suspect that some of Coryell's moodiness and inconsistent recordings resulted from bitterness and envy at their success and heavy promotion from major record labels.  All while Coryell was still playing clubs and releasing LPs on Vanguard, an independent folkie label trying to be hip.

I can hear Coryell saying, "C'mon people, give me some creds. I was the first jazz-rock guitarist on the scene in '66 with The Free Spirits and was in on Gary Burton's jazz fusion 'Duster' album in '67."   And he'd be right.    

McLaughlin,Vitous, Cobham, and Corea had the sense to make coherent albums and to NOT SING IF YOU CAN't SING (let's not discuss Gayle Moran here).  Vauguard was fully capable of breaking albums big (see Baez, Joan).  Tony Williams Lifetime also missed their shot due to, among other factors, Williams "singing".

Edited February 16, 2017 by felser

[JSngry]

Speaking of Vanguard...this one is a trip, very exciting as long as the leader does not play. He tries valiantly, though:

Watanabe also has a Chico Hamilton lineage.

[Bill Nelson]

One of the best examples of having a record producer with clout at a major label -- Brad McCuen.  Within a 12-month span, he recorded and released four RCA LPs by the Burton quartet (all with Coryell):    

Duster rec. April 18-20, 1967

Genuine Tong Funeral rec. July, 1967

Lofty Fake Anagram rec. August 15-17, 1967

Quartet in Concert rec. Feb. 23, 1968 (at Carnegie Hall) 

The only personnel change in the above was after 'Duster' -- Bob Moses replaced Roy Haynes

 

[RogerF]

I assume readers of this thread will now be aware of the sad news that Larry Coryell passed away on Sunday 19 February at the age of 73. RIP Larry.

https://jazztimes.com/news/larry-coryell-dies-73/

 

[StarThrower]

On 2/15/2017 at 2:18 PM, HutchFan said:

If you were to pick ONE personal-favorite (non-compilation) Coryell record, what would it be?

 

 

I'd likely go with Barefoot Boy.

 

I prefer his acoustic playing. Standing Ovation, Restful Mind, or Bolero will do nicely.

[Late]

 

[Teasing the Korean]

On 2/10/2017 at 5:58 PM, RogerF said:

Larry Coryell's second eponymously titled album has just been reissued for the first time on CD by Real Gone. Also features Ron Carter, Bernard Purdie, Albert Stinson, Chuck Rainey, Mike Mandel and Jim Pepper. Judging by Coryell's innate and unbridled vitality at that time, it's a very good record indeed. 

 

1969 was such an awful year, wasn't it? 

If there is one thing worse than naked hippies, it is naked hippies with naked children.  

We used to laugh our heads off to this track:

 

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by Teasing the Korean

[felser]

I love this cut.  Not for the faint of heart or for the purists in the crowd.

 

[BFrank]

Always liked this album. Very raw. This tune by "the Scottish composer, Jack Bruce" 

 

[MomsMobley]

Larry comes in blazing at 3:05 

**

Eleventh House live, Alphonse Mouzon is "pretty good," Mike Mandel is blind synth player, Mike Lawrence trumpet, John Lee bass 

 

[BFrank]

Thanks! I'll definitely check out that Marcus album.

When Eleventh House first came out I liked them, but I don't think they aged well.

[Gheorghe]

I saw Larry Coryell live in 1979, it was a trio with Alphonse Mouzon on drums and Julius Farmer on electric bass (I think he was Art Farmer´s nephew). Maybe it was a pickup trio, since Alphonse Mouzon and his electric band were also billed at that festival. 

It´s an interesting coincidence that also Sonny Rollins was one of the top acts of that festival and it was just a few weeks after Sonny had made that album which features Larry Coryell (Don´t Ask). 

Edited December 25, 2023 by Gheorghe

[Peter Friedman]

AS I am not a Rock fan, most of Larry Coryell's albums are not to my taste. Larry few jazz recordings are the one that I enjoy. Below are two of them.

[jazzbo]

For me, this one:

[felser]

I best like the early 70's albums where he splits the difference between rock and jazz - Offering, Fairyland, and Barefoot Boy.  The earlier stuff was at times gripping, but inconsistent.  Eleventh House era seemed like a crass sellout, and his latter albums usually put me to sleep.  Hated his thin tone on the Muse albums.

[kh1958]

I recollect seeing him in person four times.

1992: A solo concert at a bar in Arlington, Texas. I believe it was a stop on the way to visiting Corpus Christi, his home town. He played electric guitar and acoustic. It was very good.

1994: Five Guitars Play Mingus at the Fez in the Time Cafe. This was a pleasure to hear. 

1996: Two sets of his quartet at the Blue Note. My favorite of the four concerts.

2006: A trio with Victor Bailey and Lennie White at the Granada Theater in Dallas. For whatever reason, this concert was a disaster. Music was not working at all. 

[Ken Dryden]

I never got to see Larry Coryell live, but I did get to do a phone interview with him for a Hot House feature a few years before this death. Interesting guy...

[mjzee]

I saw Coryell twice.  

He and The Eleventh House opened for Captain Beefheart at Town Hall, NYC, 10/28/72.  A smoking show.  It was really a great band; Mandel and Marcus were particularly impressive.  The most perfect part of this show: no vocals!  So it was The Real Great Escape material without vocals - very enjoyable.  I recorded this from the seats with my little cassette recorder, and have enjoyed listening to it through the years.

This band also did a radio concert on WLIR-FM (Long Island) 5/1/73.  Also very enjoyable, but, alas, there were vocals.

He did a solo concert at SUNY-Binghamton in, IIRC, spring 1975.  Not so enjoyable.  Like Jim said, it wasn't focused; it seemed like he played to the whoops of the crowd.  I remember at one point he played slide guitar using a Coke can.

[sgcim]

Coryell's autobiography ended with him in a very depressed state, probably because he felt responsible for Emily Remler's (who he lived with) OD death.. They were both junkies at that time. The luthier who made one of LC's jazz guitars, said LC was a very complicated guy.

Although he admitted he was not a mainstream jazz player until the late 70s, I still enjoyed his modal playing before that. I saw him live once wen he did a park concert with Vic Juris that was interrupted by rain.

[Ken Dryden]

I enjoyed Larry Coryell's duo LPs with Philip Catherine, wish I could find the CDs to replace the LPs!

[JSngry]

I revisited the Gary Burton RCA records with Coryell not too long ago and enjoyed the guitar playing more than I used to! 

[Gheorghe]

17 hours ago, kh1958 said:

 

 

 

1994: Five Guitars Play Mingus at the Fez in the Time Cafe. This was a pleasure to hear. 

 

 

 

How much would I have liked to hear this. 
It´s interesting that Mingus until "Three or Four Shades of the Blues" was not really involved with guitar players, at least I don´t remember he used them in small bands or touring bands. There is a bit Spanish guitar on "Black Saint" but not really involved in the band playing, more as kind of an interlude here and there.....

But Coryell really was involved with Mingus in his last two years of recording. He got much solo space, beside the "Three or Four..." I mostly think about his brilliant playing on "Three Worlds of Drums" and the "Farwell Farewell" with that wonderful solo on that great D flat tune......

So it would be interesting to know what stuff those five guitars played on that occasion you saw them.

One of the most disappointing things that happend with jazz concerts in my youth was when the already scheduled concert tour of late autumn 1977 (it would have been a tour with Larry Coryell and Phillip Caterine to promote his albums). I already had made my plans to travel from Austria to Germany to see the event, it was advertised and all, and then it was cancelled. But at the same time Mingus had made that strange album with Hampton.....

[kh1958]

5 hours ago, Gheorghe said:

 

So it would be interesting to know what stuff those five guitars played on that occasion you saw them.

 

Unfortunately I don't recall the specific compositions they played. I recall Vic Juris as one of the other guitarists, but not the others. My main memory is of one Coryell solo that transcended every other that evening, and the other four guitarists staring at him with looks of admiration/amazement during that solo.

[mr jazz]

18 hours ago, Ken Dryden said:

I enjoyed Larry Coryell's duo LPs with Philip Catherine, wish I could find the CDs to replace the LPs!

I have one maybe both on cd somewhere; so, they're out there.