The Eleventh House featuring Larry Coryell - Sir Morgan's Cove: Worcester, Massachusetts December 14, 1973

The Eleventh House was merely 6 months old at the time of this performance, and another 6 months from releasing their debut album The Eleventh House with Larry Coryell.

Growing disinterested with his former band Foreplay, Coryell had decided he wanted to get a little more funky.

He employed the likes of Alphonse Mouzon (drums) and Randy Brecker (trumpet) almost immediately, adding Danny Trifan on bass and keeping longtime friend and bandmate Mike Mandel on keys.

Coda magazine from May of 1974 explains:  Coryell says, “The old band just kind of disintegrated. It had been together for two years or more and it was time for a change. I have a much better band, better musicians now. There is a stronger cohesion in the 11th house. It’s more than five individuals. Even though everyone is very strong on their own, it’s the togetherness that’s the focal point in the group and that’s what’s going to carry us through.  Mike Mandel is the only member of the old group who I felt had the ability, the preparedness, to move into this new kind of music. I would’ve kept Steve Marcus except that I needed a stronger horn. The trumpet is much stronger in this loud electronic music. The poor soprano just gets drowned out. A trumpet adds an extra dimension.  Randy is not only a good jazz horn soloist but he makes the ensemble passages much stronger, and he writes.  When I was forming the 11th House, I originally wanted to have two horns, but I just couldn’t afford it. I do want to keep things fluctuating. I want to keep the personnel changing if there’s ever any let down in the creative effort.  If there’s a bad apple in the works, even if it’s me, I’ll remove it.  What the 11th House will do as a group is more important than any individual effort in the long run.  My goal is for the world to receive us while we’re still playing at our peak.  I’m not out there to get good reviews, I’m out there to make some money, as terrible as that may sound.” (Coda, May 1974)