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LARRY CORYELL,
1943-2017

Larry Coryell, the jazz guitarist credited with playing a key role in ushering in the jazz-rock fusion era, died Sunday night at a hotel in New York after performing Friday and Saturday at the New York club Iridium. He was 73.

In the mid-1960s, he made a splash in New York clubs as an adventurous guitar virtuoso in the bands of Chico Hamilton and Gary Burton, first cementing his reputation on the 1968 recording Memphis Underground with flutist Herbie Mann. He used aggressive rock and blues techniques in addition to jazz styles from the get-go after arriving in New York from his Washington state roots, forming bands such as Foreplay to explore musical themes and improvisations untethered to jazz’s past.

He recorded for Vanguard, making two albums of psychedelic blues-rock jams before releasing the landmark Spaces in 1970 that featured future stalwarts of the fusion movement: guitarist John McLaughlin, pianist Chick Corea, drummer Billy Cobham and bassist Miroslav Vitous.

In 1973, he formed The Eleventh House, featuring the drummer Alphonse Mouzon, that toured and recorded extensively though never hit the commercial success of the genre’s leaders, Return to Forever, The Headhunters and Weather Report. Unlike others in the movement, he often unplugged to emphasize the acoustic guitar on albums and tours.

He would use Eleventh House name off and on throughout his career; his next album, Seven Secrets, is credited to the 11th House and is scheduled for release 6/2 on Savoy Jazz/429 Records. Coryell was prolific as a recording artist, performing on more than 100 albums, often as the leader.

In tweets, Earl Klugh said “Great player & a very nice guy”; Bootsy Collins noted “We lost another fusion that connected electricity with life”; and McLaughlin added “you will be missed my dear friend.”

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