Guitarist Larry Coryell died over the weekend in New York City. He was 73. A pioneer of jazz-rock and fusion, throughout his career Coryell was capable of delicacy and softness in guitar lines that had roots in mainstream jazz. Nonetheless, his earliest notice came as a result of his recorded work with drummer Chico Hamilton in which he generated a huge sound that verged on distortion. Coryell died in his sleep at a hotel shortly after weekend appearances at New York’s Iridium jazz club.
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.
Larry Coryell, RIP.