Larry Coryell: Sketches of Coryell

Continuing in the same direction as his recent projects for CTI, Coryell steers a course rife with easy to digest melodies and drum machine-generated grooves. But despite the glitz and gloss, there’s a lot of serious electric and acoustic guitar playing taking place.

“A Sketch Of Spain,” spawned by the second movement of Rodrigo’s “Concierto De Aranjuez,” finds Coryell spinning out a fluent, melodic solo on acoustic. Gravitating toward the funkier side of the spectrum, “Feel Like Makin’ Love” mines a mellow but head bobbin’ groove and features fat Wes-like octaves via electric guitar. Not surprisingly, “Molly,” one of the few tracks featuring real instruments exclusively, is also one of the coolest. Here, acoustic steel-string, drums, and percussion establish an infectious country-folk vibe that provides a nice contrast to the album’s overall octaves over a back beat demeanor.

Originally Published January 1, 1997