The main act at Alliance for the Arts in Ft. Myers tonight was The Larry Coryell Trio with his son Murali Coryell.
Larry, a jazz fusion guitarist, was born in Galveston, Texas, but moved to Richland, Washington where he played in many local bands before moving to Seattle to attend college. While there he played in a number of popular Northwest bands. Larry moved to New York in 1965 where he became part of Chico Hamilton's quintet. He also played with vibist Gary Burton for 2 years. Larry's music during the 60's and 70's combined rock, jazz, and eastern music. In 1979 Larry formed a trio with jazz fusion guitarist John McLaughlin (Tony Williams, Mahavishnu, Miles Davis) and flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia.
Larry has continued to release albums including the 2011 records Duality and Montgomery.
Murali, a triple threat contemporary blues artist, can write, sing, and play guitar with the best in the business.
Marty Morell, drummer, played with the Bill Evans Trio for more than 7 years, longer than any other drummer.
The highlight of my evening was bassist Victor Bailey, high on my "to see" list. Victor played with Weather Report during their final years 1982 to 1986. Victor has recorded or toured with Lady Gaga, Madonna, Mary J. Blige, LL Cool J, Sting, Michael Brecker, and Roy Haynes.
The band encored with Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On."
