If you saw jazz guitar master Larry Coryell back in November 2010 when he played a benefit for seARTS, you already know what I’m talking about.  At the risk of dating myself (this is Peter, not Vickie) I was mesmerized when I saw him on tour with Gary Burton back in the late sixties/early 70s (I was in high school).

Larry Coryell is a master, plain and simple.  And you’ve got a chance to see him with his Power Trio (Larry Coryell on guitar, Larry Gray on bass & Paul Wertico on drums) this Friday at Shalin Liu (get tickets here). You might think of jazz guitar as beautiful, lyrical and highly improvisational, if a little on the quiet side.  Here’s a video of Larry’s Power Trio showing off Paul Wertico on drums — spectacular!  Anything but quiet.

Here’s what it says on the Rockport Music website:

Known as the pioneer guitarist merging jazz, rock, free-form improvisations, and Eastern influences, Larry Coryell brings his eclectic style back to the Shalin Liu Performance Center this March. Described by critic Whitney Balliett as “the most innovative and original guitarist since Charlie Christian,” Coryell’s career spans four decades, over 60 albums (dozens more as a sideman), and performances with some of music’s heavy-weights like Eric Clapton, John Scofield, Elvin Jones, and Chick Corea, to name a few. Also a consummate composer, he tells Rockport Music, “I write music because I can’t help it. I think perhaps I want to complement all the great compositions already out there…Wayne Shorter and Sonny Rollins come to mind, and of course, Monk!” Coryell’s personal philosophy of music has kept his playing fresh and exciting, and makes each of his personal appearances a special event.

“…Coryell played poetically, switching between unhurried, unmetered passages and a subtly swaying backbeat. Before long, however, the guitarist was throwing off fleet runs and venturing far afield harmonically, onceagain swept up in the exuberance of the moment.” – Chicago Tribune