Fusion, fission, energy and virtuosity reign supreme over coming holiday weeks as jazzers beyond genre constraints fill New York clubs. Starting tonight (Dec. 9) double-necked guitar madman Dave Fiuczynski fires up Iridium with ripping alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa and jam-band idol John Medeski on keybs; jazz sambas and tangos, ex-Milesian Mike Stern and smooth trumpeter Chris Botti, soul-drench organist Dr. Lonnie Smith and the Bad Plus follow. Details here, at my new column for City Arts-New York. And below — Fuze, vocalist Dean Bowman + Roy Hargrove knock out Miles Davis’ “What It Is” from Decoy (1984, and still state-of-jazz-funk).
Julie Coryell, jazz author, manager, muse
Women in music behind-the-scenes deserve note — and Julie Coryell, who died May 10, was a force in as author of Jazz-Rock Fusion — The People, The Music, published in 1978, and as the inspiration of her then-husband guitarist Larry Coryell starting in the ’60s.
Obituaries of Ms. Coryell call her a singer, actress and songwriter, but many jazz fans first encountered her in a framed portrait that graced the front and back covers of Lady Coryell, Larry’s breakthrough recording of 1969. The couple was also depicted in Adam and Eve-like splendor (with two children who I assume are who are NOT their sons Julian and Murali, both of whom grew up to become guitarists) on Coryell, also released in ’69.