I had the pleasure of taking lessons with Larry... "The Great". Not just an amazing guitarist, but one hell of an amazing guy! Such an unpredictable sence of humor. And just right down to earth, good friend. Love you, and miss you very much, Larry. May your voice live on for a thousand years!
Had the pleasure to talking with him a few years after a California Guitar Trio show in Chicago. Chatted, told him how I’d seen him perform a solo guitar version of Stavinsky’s Rite of Spring at the Bottom Line in NYC back in ‘81. He actually remembered that gig. Then chatted again with him after a gig he played at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago. He was the friendliest, nicest guy!! And an unbelievable monster player. I was so sad to hear of his passing only a few months after I last saw him. RIP Larry
I saw him in the DC area playing with, “The Eleventh House” in the mid 70’s and they were beyond sensational! FIVE STARS! 😎 PS. I think they opened up for, “Return To Forever”!
Saw him and the eleventh house in NYC Town Hall as the second act in a show with Michal Urbaniaks Fusion and the headliner was Roy Buchanan. The one performance I’ll never forget was the all star jam to end the night, Newport Jazz @ Saratoga, ‘78. Dizzy Gillespie and many others played Night in Tunisia and when it was Larrys’ turn, he busts out an homage to Jimi Hendrix and gets a standing ovation. (Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Tony Williams, to name a few)
The last clip is from a performance of "Kowloon Jazz" in 2013. He just got better and better. You can find the original here on YT. The blurb says they filmed the whole show. "Here, we see and hear him in a performance last fall at Yoshi’s jazz club in Oakland, California. His colleagues are his son Julian Coryell, guitar; Cindy Blackman Santana, drums; George Brooks, soprano saxophone; and Gary Brown, electric bass." - news.allaboutjazz.com/larry-coryell-is-gone
RIP Mr Coryell , I'm really wondering why you didn't include the legendary acoustic solos , the best guitar tune and solos . Thank you so much we appreciate this video.
Sad the problems he had in mid career but who knows. We have Spaces, one of the most beautiful instrumental albums of all time. I’ll never forget the first thing I heard which was an album called The Restful Mind. Pioneer of chill and ambient in its own way.
It was "Kowloon Jag", with Cindy Blackman on drums. No idea of the venue. Sax player might have been Dave Liebman, but I won't testify to that in court.
Does anyone here realize Larry was a student of John LaChapelle? John was an extremely talented guitarist. He and my dad, Fred Rogers, played guitar vack in the 60's.
Yes, he was Larry's first guitar teacher. He mentions that in his autobiography, "Improvising." I met him a few times and he was very approachable and friendly. A great guy and a fabulous player!
That guitar in the first video is humongous! Looks as big as an acoustic bass! He, and other cats like Pat Metheny and even Wes Montgomery got some great tone out of such giant axes, but damn, they make the player look tiny in comparison. I guess as aesthetics became such a big part of the music scene, it kind of did away with that, in favor of the Les Pauls, flying V’s and such. Tiny guitars make people feel bigger, eh?
So it wasn’t just my eyes. That thing is huge. How did his back feel after a gig? Robert Fripp has always played sitting down as have quite a few jazzers.
Funky Waltz, studio version is on the 1st 11th house record, (1974). Can't help thinking he got bit by Weather Report's Boogie Woogie Waltz (1973) a little bit.
I do not get what anybody likes about his playing. Stiff, unimaginative and deadly boring. He misses a lot, has questionable chops and fails to build interesting melodic lines.
Had the pleasure to talking with him a few years after a California Guitar Trio show in Chicago. Chatted, told him how I’d seen him perform a solo guitar version of Stavinsky’s Rite of Spring at the Bottom Line in NYC back in ‘81. He actually remembered that gig. Then chatted again with him after a gig he played at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago. He was the friendliest, nicest guy!! And an unbelievable monster player. I was so sad to hear of his passing only a few months after I last saw him. RIP Larry
