Larry Coryell - Live At The Village Gate 1971

When it comes to jazz-rock fusion, guitarist Larry Coryell was an early, somewhat undervalued pioneer of the style at the time of his emergence in the 1960s and early '70s. Coryell was a member of Gary Burton's seminal fusion combo (presaging even Miles Davis' In a Silent Way) and he recorded a considerable amount of solo fusion as well. This 1971 live recording shows Coryell at his most rock-oriented, perhaps in honor of the then-recent passing of guitar god Jimi Hendrix. Live at the Village Gate finds Coryell and his bass-and-drums combo stretching out on five tunes (including a Jack Bruce cover), merging the brutal crunch of rock with the dexterity of jazz. AMG.

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Larry Coryell - Lady Coryell 1969

This 1968 set is for anyone who felt let down when the early '70s promise for a truly creative, genre-busting fusion of jazz and rock swiftly disappeared in a wave of vapid, show biz values and disco frippery.

On Lady Coryell, the 25-year-old Larry Coryell already possessed a virtuoso's technique and a rich harmonic and melodic imagination. He uses these gifts here to build swirling, multi-tracked, oftentimes intensely psychedelic performances that range seamlessly across the jazz and rock landscape. The most important tracks are "Treats Style" and "Stiff Neck." On the former, the guitarist is teamed with jazz masters Jimmy Garrison (bass) and Elvin Jones(drums) in a power trio of cool swagger and screaming blues. "Stiff Neck"is a furious duet between Jones and the guitarist. Coryell begins in a driving, post-bop vein, segues to a raw, acid blues and then out into a splintered, barrage of power chords and feedback.Jones navigates the way ahead, countering Coryell's audacity with controlled fury and an assured, muscular pulse. On the rest of the session, Bob Moses, a bandmate from the guitarist's first recordings, takes the drum chair, while Coryell overdubs the bass parts. Together they calmly probe the shifting sections and layers of the title track before transforming a Junior Walker R&B shuffle, "Cleo's Mood," into a mind-bending, rave-up. Even Coryell's hoarse-throated singing is effective. On "Sunday Telephone," -- over a maelstrom of phased, fuzzed, and wah-wahed guitars -- he yowls dementedly, "One more dime operator, can't you see it's Dr. Strange on the line." The album's only lapse is the country corn of "Love Child Is Coming Home," where Coryell tries to transcend one genre too many. AMG.

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