Jazz guitar player Larry Coryell is the son of two accomplished pianists. He commenced figuring out the piano at the age of 4. At the age of 12 he started to perform on the ukulele and after that the guitar. In 1950 his family moved from Texas to Richmond, Washington and there at the age of 15 he formed a rock and roll group. Coryell had originally been interested in the guitar styles of Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry. He commenced getting instruction from a guitar instructor who introduced him to the recordings of jazz guitar performers Barney Kessel, Wes Montgomery and Tal Farlow. While Coryell was studying journalism at the University of Washington, Seattle, he made up his mind that he would make a career out of playing jazz guitar. At first he gigged in and around Seattle but afterwards in 1965 transferred to New York city.
His initial important job in New York city was in 1966 with drummer Chico Hamilton’s Quintet. In 1967 he became part of a group led by vibraphonist Gary Burton. Through his performances and recordings with this band Coryell’s capability quickly achieved worldwide recognition. In 1968 Coryell left Burton determined to lead his own combo. This he did in 1969 naming the band “Foreplay”.
In 1970 he cut the now famous “Spaces” album with John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Miroslav Vitous and Billy Cobham. In 1973 he formed his extremely famous jazz-rock band “Eleventh House”. This highlighted Mike Mandel, Randy Brecker and Alphonse Mouzon. In 1975, soon after this group broke up, Coryell decided to focus on performing on acoustic guitar. He toured Europe that year playing solo guitar. In 1976 he formed a guitar duo with Philip Catherine. They toured and recorded with each other till 1977.
In 1978 Larry Coryell toured all over the world with guitar performers John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia. In 1979 he made recordings with bassist Charlie Mingus and also with guitar player John Scofield. By the mid 1980s he was performing on electrical guitar once more with a trio made up of drummer Alphonse Mouzon and bass guitarist Bunny Brunel. Close to this time he transcribed for guitar and made a recording of some Stravinsky ballets for the Japanese recording company Nipon Phonogram. This record album grew to become a very best seller in Japan. Larry Coryell’s recent albums show that he is one of the most important and most creative, jazz fusion guitarists of the past 40 years.
Julian Coryell is the son of famed jazz guitar player Larry Coryell. He initially performed the piano at the age of 5 and additionally studied the violin, viola, bass and drums. He began to perform on the guitar professionally at the age of 14 playing with his dad, Dave Brubeck, Herbie Mann and others. At 19 he was the youngest ever to graduate from Boston’s Berklee School of Music. In 1989 he was voted Downbeat magazine’s “Outstanding Guitar Soloist”.
Coryell’s jazz guitar style is strongly influenced by rhythm and blues, country, and rock music. He recorded with the rhythm and blues group “Changing Faces” and toured with the rock group “October Project”. He released two CDs in Japan for Venus Recording Company and these were well received in that country and abroad. His first USA CD was cut in 1997 on the Encoded Music label.
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