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CDs / Shows

Published: 2011/09/07

by Sam Davis

Larry Coryell: With the Wide Hive Players

Wide Hive

During the course of Larry Coryell’s long and storied career, the jazz-fusion guitarist has ventured into nearly every corner of the musical world. But on his most recent collaboration with The Wide Hive Players, Coryell returns to his roots to deliver his most brilliant work in years. Reminiscent of the exploratory rock-fusion from his days with The Free Spirits and the Gary Burton Quintet, the album offers 13 tracks that never let up and seem like lost nuggets from Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew era ‘70s. On the powerful opener “Torchlight,” Coryell laces the song with his signature edgy tone and chunky guitar riffs, and on “Return of Shirtless,” he embarks into extended jam territory. Flurries of distorted notes and caterwauling growls combine with melodious, virtuosic improvisation to create an album that is purely Coryell.

Comments

There are 2 comments associated with this post

dan r. January 25, 2012, 18:58:37

I attended two days of the session, and introduced Larry to my at that time five month old baby girl. I was there for the recording of Return of Shirtless, and Larry’s overdubbed solo on The Last Drop, where he met my little girl. On The Last Drop, a police siren infiltrated the recording as it drove past the studio. It sounded so right that they kept it on the CD. I suggested that royalties may be owed to the Berkeley PD, which elicited a good laugh. Turned out to be a pretty great album.

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