Customer Reviews

Eleventh House With Larry Coryell

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I had the pleasure of seeing these guys (with a number of trumpet players - Lawrence, Hino) and this album was a staple in high school. The remastering is a noticable improvement over the original, although there's alot to be said for that Vanguard Apostolic sound on the original LP. They didn't yet call it "Fusion" back then - I think "Jazz-Rock" was the going term. Funkier than "Birds of Fire", without the Bartok influence, the material here was eclectic and tuneful - particularly "Joy Ride", my favorite which sounds like it could have be written yesterday.

Now, how about dusting off the tapes of "Level One", "Aspects" and the solo "Lion and the Ram" to round out the Coryell catalog.

The psychedelic art on the cover of this 1974 Eleventh House album is really cool, there are a few songs that sound kind of like psychedelic/fusion, and some that are jazz/fusion. A few are funky fusion, and as usual Larry includes a mellow acoustic based tune....so there is a good variety of songs. Coryell is an amazing musician who is also not afraid to experiment. The early 70's produced fusions cream of the crop and alot of excellent records. Though not as big as the other fusion bands (Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to forever) in terms of record sales, Coryell pioneerd the art form and was a huge influence on his contemporaries. A couple of these songs have a guitar sound and style that makes you wonder if Jerry Garcia was influenced by this album. This is the heaviest and overall best of the eleventh house records with good remastering and "bonus" tracks from the album "Planet End", which was a compilation of out-takes- "Cover Girl" being the standout. The inclusion of these tracks make this package the best single disc available of Larry Coryell with the Eleventh House...there is'nt a bad track on it. Incredible guitar work by Larry Coryell w/ Alphonse Mouzon on drums, and good trumpet (some w/ wah wah pedal) from R. Brecker. Though Amazon did not have this disc listed as an import, my copy says made in Italy, the label is called Universe, which is a well respected reissue company that has exclusive rights from Vanguard records USA for the Italian market. They did an excellent job of reproducing the cover art for this cd issue. This disc will be enjoyable to fans of Coryell, Fusion, or anyone interested in hearing one of the best guitarists in the world.

Just to let everyone know, the three bonus tracks are from Coryell's album Planet End. The whole album is remastered though and sounds significantly better than the original cd version.

You know this thing means business, from the stellar lineup including trumpeter Randy Brecker to the appropriately titled burning opening track "Birdfingers" (and those fingers was a flyin' here!). Here, Larry and Company carved out a unique sound for themselves in a genre' that Larry helped pioneer. The interaction between Larry C and Randy Brecker is pure magic, as keyboardist Mike Mandell lets forth funky Herbie Hancock-eque interjections and the rhythm section of bassist Danny Trifan and drummer Alphonse Mouzon pushes things along at a harrowing pace.

The Highlights: "Birdfingers" with Larry and Randy exchanging lively phrases and challenges, "Funky Waltz", "Low-Le-Tah", and the screamingly funky "Adam Smasher" amongst many. The introspective "Theme For A Dream" is a great change of pace. Even more wonderfully psychotronic is the inclusion of extra tracks like the ominous "Cover Girl" (which was even more so played live), Randy Brecker's "Rocks" (which later wound up redone on the first Brecker Bros. album) and "Eyes of Love".

The Only Gripe: Alphonse Mouzon's drumming, sometimes grooving and then maddeningly sloppy and over-technical in the blink of an eye. Having the sheer chops that Alphonse did was both a wonderful blessing AND a horrible curse. Depending on the song, Alphonse could either carry it along very strongly, or let his technique and ego get so out of control and try to cram as many notes into a bar as fast as possible like a caffeine-crazed octopus, leaving little to no breathing room for the other musicians at times. However, the sheer quality of the tunes and the players enables me to look past this more than I would otherwise.

Gripes aside, I am just sooooo glad this made it to CD, a wonderful slice of classic fusion and Larry Coryell reaching for a higher level!

one bonus track(cover girl)worth you're extra money