|
Texas-born white guitarist Larry Coryell (1943), who relocated to New York in 1965, formed an early jazz-rock group, the Free Spirits, that released
Out of Sight And Sound (1966).
After working in a much more influential group of fusion jazz, Gary Burton's
quartet (1967-68), Coryell emerged as one of the most innovative electric
and noisy guitarists of all time, competing with his more famous contemporary
Jimi Hendrix.
His early classics, frequently recorded in guitar-bass-drums trios, included:
Stiff Neck on Lady Coryell (1968), featuring Elvin Jones on drums,
that focused on Coryell's youthful speed and metal overtones (and, alas, his monotonous singing),
The Jam With Albert on Coryell (april 1969),
Wrong Is Right on Spaces (july 1970), featuring the stellar cast of John McLaughlin on guitar, Miroslav Vitous on bass and Billy Cobham on drums,
Souls Dirge on Fairyland (june 1971).
Coryell approached the intensity of progressive-rock with the
20-minute jam Call to the Higher Consciousness on Barefoot Boy (1971), featuring Steve Marcus on saxophones, Micheal Mandel on piano, Roy Haynes on drums, bass and percussion, and by now he was less interested in acrobatic solos than in group improvisation.
After Offering (january 1972), a more straightforward quintet with Mandel and Marcus (Foreplay), and The Real Great Escape (1973),
a pop album heavy on the vocals and the synthesizers,
Coryell settled down with the quintet Eleventh House, soon destined to become one of the most famous jazz-rock groups of the 1970s (trumpet, bass, Alphonse Mouzon on percussion, Mike Mandel on piano and synthesizer), that released Introducing The Eleventh House (july 1974) and Level One (1975).
Despite the hype, the group's music was not particularly relevant.
Coryell sensed the crisis of the genre and made a dramatic u-turn with the relaxed and mostly acoustic The Restful Mind (1975), featuring three members of Oregon (guitarist Ralph Towner, bassist Glen Moore, percussionist Collin Walcott), that brought out his neoclassical and folkish side.
From 1975 Coryell concentrated on acoustic guitar, specializing in albums for
solo guitar and guitar duo, such as the two duo albums with Philip Catherine,
Twin House (1977) and Splendid (february 1978).
He briefly returned to electric fusion jazz with Cause And Effect (may 1998),
but eventually settled for a comfortable and senile revision of bebop classics.
|
(Translation by/ Tradotto da xxx) Se sei interessato a tradurre questo testo, contattami
|
td>
/tr>