Improvising: My Life in Music (Includes Audio CD)
by Larry Coryell
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Book Summary Information
Author: Larry CoryellEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-04-07
ISBN: 0879308265
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: HAL LEONARD CORPORATION
Book Reviews of Improvising: My Life in Music (Includes Audio CD)
Book Review: An opportunity missed!
Summary: 3 Stars
I have been a big Larry Coryell fan since his 11th House group's electric fusion tore a hole in my consciousness about music when they opened for Return to Forever in 1975. I saw him perform many, many times in a variety of settings and contexts, bought slews of his records. I stopped going to see him perform because the performances became so erratic...a guy who could play like the king of the world one night and quite sloppily the next.
I bought the book to find out what happened to someone who was at the forefront of progressive jazz and a talent with no boundaries. Bad choices, drugs and alcohol. I agree with some of the other reviewers, who feel the book lacked depth and honesty about relationships with key people in his life. Without that depth, the reader doesn't get to know the author or his family and friends well beyond a superficial level. As a result the reader has little to no emotional investment.
Part of his struggles to succeed were terrible business deals he got into with managers and record companies. Those could have been interesting and educational stories to budding musicians who could learn from a guy who's been around the block and lived to tell about it.
If you're a guitar player and a Coryell/fusion fan, buy the book. Even with it's failings, it has some fascinating passages. But, again, here's a guy who played with some of the greatest musicians in the history of music and has traveled the world, and the reader is gvien little more than a snapshot of that life. The book feels like it was dictated and not edited very well. The chronology jumps all over the place, going on tangents.
But I am grateful he has written the book to at least provide some answers as to why such an incredible talent missed the boat when the stage was set for him to take his place alongside musicians like John McGlaughlin, Chick Corea, and Carlos Santana during the fiery years of fusion, 1971-1978. to his credit, he's turned his life around and is serving his muse, clean and sober, playing the music he feels he needs to make as an artist. Right on! I hope he writes a sequel to dig deep into a very rich life as an artist and a human being.
~ Jonny Octane
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