Karissa 五月份樂評: Larry Coryell (PART 1)

My Larry Coryell Recommendation (Part 1)

After reading Larry Coryell’s autobiography a while ago, Cooloo asked me if I could recommend some Larry Coryell albums and several immediately came to mind. It is an honour for me to write about his music; after all, Larry is my first guitar teacher when I started to play jazz. I have listened to him for twenty plus years and witnessed his evolution as a musician. Since the 60s, Larry has been on a musical quest that took his audience through various genres, in search for that elusive universal beauty. What I am going to do is to pick a couple albums from each period of his artistic evolution, from jazz-rock to acoustic to modern classical and back to his jazz roots.

Jazz-Rock Fusion (Late 60s to early 70s)

Larry Coryell first came to prominence in the 60s as a jazz-rock guitarist. In those days, experimentation was the thing and musicians were all trying fuse jazz with other musical styles. Rock music was the new thing on the scene and it reached audience way beyond jazz’s scope. In fact, jazz was on the out during the 60s, being considered ‘old’. Jazz musicians were looking for a change, partly because of survival. The marriage of jazz and rock came naturally, as evident in the music of Mongo Santamaria, Herbie Hancock, Gary Burton (with whom Larry Coryell made his early recordings) and the decade ended with Miles Davis’ ground breaking Bitches Brew album which pushed jazz-rock fusion to the forefront. My Larry Coryell pick from this period is definitely the 1974 album ‘Spaces’ (recorded in 1969) --- the super band consisted of Larry and John McLaughlin on guitars, Chick Corea on keyboards, Miroslav Vitous on bass and Billy Cobham on drums. All these players later formed influential jazz-rock fusion bands like the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever and Larry’s 11th House. A detailed description of the album seems unnecessary given the caliber of the players involved. The music is a fusion of rock rhythms and jazz harmony with excellent solos by all musicians; check out the burning electric guitar solos on ‘Spaces Infinite’ and the acoustic guitar duet ‘Rene’s Theme’ where McLaughlin took the first incredible solo. The tune is a nod to Rene Thomas, the legendary Belgian jazz guitarist. On the classic Scott LaFaro tune ‘Gloria’s Step’, Miroslav took a beautiful arco solo with Larry providing some interesting comping before jumping into a twist-and-turn solo that most jazz purist of that time might frown upon. I listened to the album again before I am writing this and the music is as fresh as it was recorded in 1969. Once again, good music transcends time.

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