Larry Coryell - Tricycles (Remastered Deluxe Edition) (2021) [Hi-Res]

A milestone in the discography of Larry Coryell. Remixed and remastered by sound engineer Winnie Leyh exclusively for the Deluxe Edition from the original tapes. Leyh has played a major role in the excellent sound of numerous IN+OUT releases.

To be able to deliver a first-rate recording while suffering from a stubborn cold, you have to be an exceptional musician. Troubled by influenza, Larry Coryell, Mark Egan and Paul Wertico completed their autumn tour through stormy Europe in 2002 and eventually came together for a studio session near Frankfurt. “We felt bloody awful, were homesick and none of us had any appetite. I even was too weak to move from my chair”, Coryell recalls. “But somehow we managed to play.”“Somehow” is a considerable understatement. Since the result of this memorable session, now released by In+Out Records, ranks among the most outstanding of the recordings by the dynamic guitarist. After all, Coryell has released some 60 albums to this point and has excelled in a wide variety of genres with his versatile and flexible way of playing. The “flamenco jazz” on his legendary recordings with Paco De Lucia and John McLaughlin aroused worldwide euphoria. And, before this, he had sparked a fusion craze in New York with his band, Eleventh House. And since the 1980s, the classically trained guitarist has intrepidly undertaken interpretations of works by Stravinsky, Bizet and Gershwin.

On “Tricycles”, we once again hear the one-time associate of Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Dizzy Gillespie and many other superstars in an intimate jazz setting. For the In+Out recording he teamed up with two very special companions. The merits of bass player Mark Egan, a pupil of the late Jaco Pastorius, cannot be overstated. He founded the band Elements, which set new standards in the experimental field. On many solo albums on his own label, Wavetone, Egan developed his visionary “bass universe”, partly with the aid of self-made, eight- and ten-stringed instruments. Paul Wertico, praised as an “impressionist painter” among jazz drummers, not only participated in many Pat Metheny Group records, but is also a much sought-after session musician and producer who has worked with avant-garde trios and popular artists like Terry Callier and Special EFX. The abilities of this exceptional troika are impressively captured on this album. Wertico’s widespread knowledge of styles brilliantly harmonizes with Coryell‘s open-minded approach, and Egan has at his disposal a bass vocabulary which comes surprisingly close to the sound of the guitar. Monk classics like “Round Midnight” and “Well You Needn’t”, even the Beatles song, “She’s Leaving Home”, on which Coryell delivers a fine acoustic solo, fit beautifully into the range of original compositions. Among them are tunes which were spontaneously created in the studio, like the title track, reminiscent of Miles, or the “Stable Fantasy”, a tribute to Benny Golson and Cedar Walton, with whom Coryell worked only recently. On “Spaces Revisited”, Wertico tips his hat to doyen Billy Cobham, while on “Good Citizen Swallow”, the three once again focus on one of Coryell’s own classics.

It seems as if “Tricycles” served the trio as an effective remedy to break free from their influenza. Says Coryell: “We hope that – with our ‘musical painting’ - we have created a soundscape which represents a concrete form of collective wisdom.”

Larry Coryell, guitar
Mark Egan, bass
Paul Wertico, drums