IMPROVISING: MY LIFE IN MUSIC
by Larry Coryell
Book Summary Information
Author: Larry CoryellEdition: Paperback
Published: 2007-04-07
ISBN: 0879308265
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: HAL LEONARD CORPORATION
Book Reviews of IMPROVISING: MY LIFE IN MUSIC
Book Review: Penetrating the Music
Summary: 4 Stars
This was a welcome book from a musician's musician, a man who followed his muse and helped kindle and create the next step in the evolution of jazz. I remember the Guitar Player articles (reprinted here) from the 70s, and I was amazed to learn that he actually is deaf in one ear! His chapter entitled, Do the better players really get overlooked? Does it matter? reminded me of the reasons for playing music that have largely become lost in our disposable culture: Success is relative. What matters most is How deeply have you penetrated the music? Larry penetrated the music: Put the CD Spaces up against any fusion album of that period including Bitche's Brew and it holds its own. In his duet on "Spain" with Al DiMeola on Youtube I think his playing is more varied, personal, and engaging than his partner's, someone who arguably has more name recognition. And regarding his not playing on Electric Ladyland, I suggest that Jimi dug Larry as much as Larry did Jimi, because Jimi was aspiring to be the complete jazz musician that Larry had in the late 60s already gone a long way in becoming. And about not joining Miles Davis, perhaps he weighed the pros and cons of furthering his career vs. dealing with an erratic personality when he himself was struggling with addiction. Larry deserves the summing up of his life that this book affords. He has told his story his way--a little disorganzed at times, unwilling to disparage his ex-wife or crappy managers in any detail, but able to paint a picture of the personal and larger social forces that shaped him and his playing. Maybe more than any other guitarist he has had a solid foot in both traditional jazz and jazz/rock. He survived his addictions and self-destuctive tendencies and continued to reinvent himself, to penetrate the music more and more.
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