Metropolis – Larry Coryell & Brian Tarquin

I recorded this track in my studio in 2016 with the “Godfather of Fusion” Larry Coryell for a charity album I was producing called Orlando In Heaven, a dedication to those who lost their lives at the Pulse nightclub shooting. For those of you who are not in the know, Larry was an iconic fusion guitarist who started out by replacing guitarist Gábor Szabó in Chico Hamilton’s quintet. He is famous for combining funk, rock, jazz, and eastern music in his Eleventh House band. One of my favorite albums was Larry and Alphonse Mouzon, Back Together Again. I remember Larry telling me that when he first arrived in New York City the only place he could play live was at Idlewild Airport before it was changed to JFK.

Metropolis was recorded on a very early digital format called a RADAR Otari II, archaic yes, but it sounded so good and still to this day has the best sounding digital/analog converters. The song features Reggie Pryor on Drums, Brandon Miller on bass, Juan Tobon on strings, Ryan De Sade on Rhodes, Larry, and myself on guitar. This was quite an honor to work with Larry in the studio, as he had the most wonderful stories about the New York jazz scene in the 60’s & 70’s. It was probably one of the best recording sessions I ever had, and I’ve had a lot in my days. He was friends with Jimi Hendrix and jammed with him as well – how cool is that!

Larry really cared about music and believed in all of its healing powers. He said to me at the end of the session, “Let’s just get stoned on this beautiful music man. What I’ve heard so far is great!”

you can learn more about larry coryell here