Larry Coryell Organ Trio - Impressions (2008)

Larry Coryell Organ Trio - Impressions (2008)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 340MB

Chesky SACD

Guardian:
Larry Coryell's name isn't bandied around much now, but in the 1970s he was almost as big a guitar star as John McLaughlin, and an equivalent influence on the development of early electric jazz-rock fusion. But this is not just another cosy retro exercise. Coryell's crackling uptempo bursts and engagingly rough-hewn energy give this familiar music a vividness and infectious enthusiasm, and the powerful presence of sometime Bill Frisell and Norah Jones sideman Sam Yahel on Hammond organ and former Pat Metheny drummer Paul Wertico adds a lot more of that. The early tracks are mostly classics, but Coryell's original Szabador and Wertico's Full Moon Over Istanbul are memorable and unusual enough to suggest that the group could have scattered its own music a little more confidently through the programme. Coryell's own stealthily bluesy groover Stowaway is full of Wes Montgomery flourishes, and Yahel builds his solos with a compelling deliberation tentatively introducing fresh phrases and then igniting them, segueing flying runs into murmurs, and generally avoiding familiar Hammond organ licks. Wertico's brutal, pummelling drum solo in Coryell's fizzing Szabodar (a tribute to the late Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó) would also never have been heard the same way on a 1960s bop set. It's good to hear Coryell on top of his game.

Tracks
-1. "Very Early" - 7:08
-2. "Stowaway" - 6:15
-3. "Come Rain or Come Shine" - 6:55
-4. "Embraceable You" - 7:32
-5. "Cariba" - 6:05
-6. "Impressions" - 5:58
-7. "Szabodar" - 5:19
-8. "Full Moon Over Istanbul" - 3:16
-9. "Centerpriece" - 7:25

Personnel
* Larry Coryell - guitar
* Paul Wertico - Drums
* Sam Yahel - organ

 sample & buy: Impressions