Customer Reviews

Tricycles

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
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Some people get turned off by the avant-guarde/fusion jazz that Larry did in the 60s/70s. Well, they won't when they hear this one. The style is a little bit of bop, swing, and fusion. There are no effects or electronics, just the plain old guitar/bass/drums. Tricycles finds Coryell with two well-rounded fretless bassist and drummer. He plays with a clean and smooth tone and he spits out very tasty licks that live up to his fame. All songs are originals except two covers of Thelonious Monk and one of the Beatles. I could honestly have done with less drum solos and more bass solos, but the music is still good nonetheless. The standout track is definetly Dragon Gate, although Immer Geradeaus, Good Citizen Swallow and Spaces Revisited are up there too.

Larry Coryell is a delightful new discovery for me. I recently saw him play live at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia and he blew me away. He has trad jazz guitar playing down pat but can also expand into a multitude of other genres including classical, fusion, new age, world music and rock. Some of his music is wildly exotic and impossible to categorize. (He played "Bolero" with such an Indian flavor that I could have sworn certain passages were being played on a sitar.) I got to meet him and am pleased to report that, in addition to being a virtuoso he is a warm and genuine human being. Standouts from that show were "Spaces Revisited", "Bolero", "Something" and "She's Leaving Home". Two of these songs, "She's Leaving Home" and "Spaces Revisited" are on Tricycles. There are many musical flavors to be found here, including the classic jazz of Monk's "Round Midnight", Larry's own compositions (difficult to categorize), and The Beatles cover "She's Leaving Home" which is so beautiful it brings tears to my eyes. (His other Beatles cover, George Harrison's "Something" is on The Power Trio CD and is equally good!) Despite the varied material on Tricycles the CD has a very consistent sound and hangs together as a cohesive whole. It leaves you with a blissful feeling that makes you immediately want to listen to the whole thing again from the beginning. I recommend this CD highly for anyone who loves great music, especially virtuoso guitar playing. It's a gem!

Good God, I had almost forgotten about Larry Coryell and then I heard some of this on Pandora. He's not only live and kickin' he may be better than ever. Great tunes, not a single bad solo, wonderful ensemble playing. How else is this a great album? The sequencing of the songs, closing with a delicate solo renditioon of "She's Leaving Home", the sound quality and production, the variety of styles. In fact that last may be the most important thing. Larry verges on some of his old fusion style but does not try to resurrect it, like the sad Carlos Santana. He shows the best straightahead jazz playing I've heard him play, but like I said I almost forgot about him. Now is the time to fix that, and look into some of his other recent music. Sorry Larry, I'm not interested in your transcriptions of Stravinsky, I want jazz, because this is great stuff!

When all the boil and flash of the early fusion settles down, the wankers move off, the territory is left to musicians who have either matured with the genre or have come to a more completely developed form with greater depth and breadth.

Tricycles is a great example of what fusion can be at its best. Exciting, challenging, spontaneous, dynamic, powerful.

The blend of elements (the energy of rock, the subtlety and complexity of jazz) is nicely balanced. Best of all, the recording has all the life of a live jazz session, with the musicians interacting and bouncing ideas around. Comfortable but still probing.

Coryell's work here is nicely summarized in other reviews. Paul Wertico brings a range of dynamics that can leave you breathless and (most surprising to me) Mark Egan's 5-string fretless has a depth and power that should be recognized as a new standard for bass in this role (respects to Jaco, but it's time to move on, Egan has).

Once again I'm Johnny-come-lately. I just got Tricycles three years after its release. I just got Tricycles today and have only listen to it three times but it seems to be as great as Spaces Revisited. As someone inferred, these are masterworks played by masters and as someone else said it as good to play as background as it is to be totally absorbed into it. I also agree that Dragon's Gate is absolutely a blast. There are many versions of this song and this updated one is practically a new level of guitar. All the tracks though are delightful and as someone else said it hangs together as a whole very neatly even though there are various genres involved. Larry is a genius and Egan and Wilcox ably accompany him. Most Highly Recommended.

Addendum 11/29/08: I've listen to this a thousand times and it gets better every time.

Larry Coryell is an excellent player and a jazz/fusion pioneer.. Add to it the amazing musicians in his band and a killer Beatles cover, and this is a must-have for all fans of Jazz, Fusion, and Progressive.. Great for relaxing to, but just as great to really pay attention to and enjoy every note he plays.

Personnaly I feel every Coryell album is a great album. ! have over 20 albums from this guy, Coryell and Mclaughlin are the reasons I started playing guitar, I don't own this cd yet but I'm ordering it now. Honestly people, don't cheat yourselves by not listening to any Larry Coryell cd.