LARRY CORYELL: MORE TO COME BY HARRY STAMATAKY NOVEMBER 9TH, 1972

Often, people of little or no musical ability receive wide public acclaim.  This, in fact, may apply to the majority of pop musicians today:  The status they have attained is largely due to slick public relations hype.  Of course, this victimizes musicians who are truly talented and consistently produce music of the highest caliber.
One such victim is the great guitarist and composer Larry Coryell.  For some time now, Coryell has been releasing jazz-rock albums that in my opinion outclass everybody else’s attempts in the field.  His music is compositionally intricate and complex and technically flawless. He can play demanding material so fast and with such finesse that it sounds (and looks) deceptively easy.  All his notes are crystal clear and are not marred by the overdone electronics that have recently become fashionable among guitarists.  Coupled with this, Coryell has what might best be described as natural musical feeling. 

During this year, Coryell has frequently played in New York City jazz clubs.  It was at the Gaslight Au Go Go that I saw him for the first time, and I was practically knocked off my feet.  Larry was playing with his current group, made up of long-time musical friends:  Steve Marcus on soprano saxophone;  Mike Mandel on electric piano;  Harry Wilkinson on drums, and, in place of bassist Mervin Bronson, who had temporally left the group, John Miller, who fit into the group surprisingly well despite a completely different style from Bronson.  
Two days later, when I enter the very cluttered office of the Gaslight, Larry, his wife Julie, and some friends were already engaged in conversation. The topic soon turned to John McLaughlin, Larry’s friend (and possible rival).  A few years ago, Larry and Julie Coryell started practicing yoga with McLaughlin and his wife, Eve, under the tutelage of Sri Chinmoy, who is still McLaughlin’s yogi. 

“My wife had just had a baby. She was depressed and we were both unhappy.  When we were trying to be disciples, John, myself, Eve, and Julie were all very close.  We saw each other almost every day.  We meditated together;  we made music together;  we ate together;  and we played Scrabble together.  We had a great time and were the best of friends," Coryell said.
This relationship lasted about a year, but the Coryell‘s found the yoga teachings were in direct conflict with certain basic principles and ideas they did not wish to change.
“I spent a year and a half trying to conform to the kind of person John McLaughlin's guru wanted me to be, and I couldn't.  First of all, I found that I couldn't love my wife the way I wanted to.” 

Musically speaking, Coryell does not consider this brief sojourn into mysticism fruitless. He wrote many songs during the period and is still happy with them.
“The last time I saw Sri Chinmoy, I wrote what I consider to be my greatest piece. It’s called "The Meditation of November 8th", and it’s on Offering (Vanguard VSD 79319).  The entire composition is nothing but peace and solitude and quiet.  It’s the best thing I ever wrote.“ 

Though McLaughlin continues to practice yoga, he and Coryell remain friends.  Concerning McLaughlin‘s current playing, Coryell has both positive and negative opinions.
“Let me first say that John McLaughlin is the only guitar player in the world besides myself who can play music that nobody else can play.  He’s one of the most gifted musicians on earth.  The real positive virtues of The Inner Mounting Flame are its compositional aspects.  All that really shows is what a good writer John is.  It does not show what kind of player he is.  I’m disappointed in that record because I know how great he can play.  I feel that my album, Spaces (Vanguard VSD 6558) captured the true John McLaughlin, listen to his solo on "Wrong Is Right" or "Spaces" or "Renee's Theme", and you’ll hear one of the greatest guitar players in the world.“ 

With Coryell and McLaughlin on guitars on Spaces are Miroslav Vitous, Chick Corea, and Billy Cobham - all musicians to conjure with.
“The best I ever heard Billy Cobham was when he played on Spaces.  Listen to Spaces.  That’s true, honest, artistic music.  My wife wrote the music for that album, and it is to me one of the greatest records of our generation.  People will be waking up to that years from now.  We sat down, looked at the music, turned on the tapes, and we played it."
Coryell has high esteem for Vitous' associates in Weather Report. “Let me say that the musicians in Weather Report had a profound influence on my music.  I respect those musicians about as much as anybody.“ 

I asked Coryell about Jimi Hendrix.  “Jimi Hendrix is the greatest musician who ever lived, as far as I’m concerned.  The stuff I saw him do in person and jam sessions was some of the heaviest jazz music I ever heard.  He’s the greatest musician I’ve ever met.“  Hendrix and Coryell were going in the same musical direction in the '60s but Hendrix, it seems, was a split second ahead.  “I hate him because he took everything away from me that was mine.  I wanted to play just like that at the time.  I knew that would be the sound.  He took my stuff man.  I’ve never been so jealous of a cat in my life.“ 

How does Coryell view his relatively obscure status in music rock music circles?
“I want to be a star and make a lot of money,“ he said,  “I have a large family and a lot of debts to pay off.  I would like to be recognized, not as the greatest, but as one of the greatest guitar players in the world.  My time will come.  I’m not worried about it.“ He is, however, very pleased with being his own musician, not indebted to hype.
“When I get up there, either in a recording studio or on a stage, I play my guitar the best I can.  If you like it, that’s fine, and if you don’t, that’s fine too,  because I receive the full benefits of complete artistic integrity and freedom.  As long as I continue with that philosophy, I can take care of all the obligations and responsibilities that are delineated to me.” 

It was time for the guitarist to go on, and I continued the conversation with his wife, who plays an integral part in her husband‘s music.  It is almost impossible to talk about one Coryell without considering the other.  Julie has temporarily stopped singing with the group because she is expecting, and she said she probably won’t sing for a while to come in order to spend more time with the children.  Working clubs does not appeal to her.
“I hate clubs.  I feel Larry’s band plays much better in a larger audience situation where the artist plays for an hour or so.  In clubs, you have to play a lot of sets, and as the night progresses, the musicians get tired and the music deteriorates.  The only reason for playing the clubs is survival, and keeping a band working.“ 

The set under way now was even more explosive than the one I witnessed a few days earlier, though I found that possibility hard to entertain.  After the set, Larry was in a state of bliss. The group had sounded great, and they knew it even better than the audience. They weren’t completely satisfied, though. The sound system had been too loud.
Steve Marcus explained:  “It’s a matter of dynamics.  The loudness of the music can turn against you.  On one level, it can enhance it, but a little more, and it will be ruined.  You have to be aware at all times of the power of the changing volume.  When you start loud, you can't get louder."
Nothing but praise for the group comes from Coryell‘s lips.  Marcus, a remarkable saxophonist, “is, to me, the greatest living reed player…he took a giant step that Coltrane never took.  He went into the rock bag and played from the jazz consciousness in spirit and played great rock ‘n’ roll.  He does for me what John Coltrane never did for me…”
Mike Mandel, the blind keyboard player whom Larry has known since the age of 14, he calls his inspiration.  “I got the greatest piano player, man.  Bill Evans once asked to sit in, but I said, 'No man because I’ve got the greatest piano player in the world.' “ 

Coryell said he was finishing a new album, his eighth, which will feature the current group.  It will be a rock album, completely different from Offering, a jazz album.  His first single, a vocal, will be released simultaneously with the album, probably in January.
On Offering, Coryell‘s group proves it can play high-quality jazz. The yet to be released rock album should provide an interesting basis for comparison in style and content.  The group may yet successfully bridge the gap between jazz and rock.
But Coryell still faces his old nemesis:  Lack of publicity. That may change soon, however. “We haven’t had a manager until now, “ Julie said.  “But we do now, and he’s a very good manager. John McLaughlin got a manager a year ago, and from that time on his career has soared."
Coryell is planning a tour of colleges that should open new ears to his talents.  In my opinion, this man is one of the great musicians of our time.  If you don’t believe me, listen to Spaces or Coryell or Offering.  Or even better, catch Larry Coryell live. 

You’ll see (or hear) the light.