Spaces (album)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spaces
Larry Coryell's studio album

Publication
(s)

1970

Label (s) Vanguard Records

Format (s)

LP, MC, CD,

Genre (s)

Jazz , fusion

Title (number)

6th

running time

36:42

occupation

production

Daniel Weiss

Studio (s)

Apostolic Studios, New York City

chronology
Coryell Spaces At the Village Gate

Spaces is an early rock jazz album by Larry Coryell that was recorded in late 1969 and represents a first collaboration with John McLaughlin .

History of the album

Larry Coryell recorded two fusion albums under his own name in 1969. In the same year he sat as a spectator in Count Basie's nightclub to hear Tony Williams band Lifetime there, which also included John McLaughlin and Larry Young . Coryell hadn't heard the British guitarist before. Thirty seconds after McLaughlin had started his first solo, Coryell turned to his wife and said to her, "This is the best guitarist I've ever heard." Shortly afterwards, Coryell invited McLaughlin to record together in the studio; with Miroslav Vitouš , Billy Cobham and (for one piece) Chick Corea was "a veritable supergroup" of the emerging fusion jazz.

“Larry and John didn't prepare anything together, and you hear that half confused and half fascinated. And so good parts of Spaces sound like a session of people who need a fair amount of time to preheat. Vitous, the acclaimed star of the electric bass, scrapes on his bass as if he were bowing over thick strings for the first time in his life. Coryell jumps back and forth between acoustic and electric guitar every second before sticking to the latter, and both guitarists seem here and there as if they absolutely wanted to avoid playing in the same key. "

The music of the album

Only the title track, in which Coryell plays the first solo (right channel), is based on rock rhythms . After a few "grueling arpeggios ", McLaughlin takes over. "Considering the rapid pace, her harmonious and complementary way of playing is amazing."

In contrast to early fusion albums, the classical jazz repertoire is used for two pieces. In Rene's Theme , a composition by Belgian guitarist René Thomas that has been given a new title, Coryell and McLaughlin play a duet on acoustic guitars ; McLaughlin plays the first solo (left channel). As Robert Palmer noted for Rolling Stone, the piece is “probably the absolute highlight of this record.” The guitarists use the acoustic guitars and play in the style of Django Reinhardt . "With driving rhythms" in the style of the Hot Club de France and "fast solos, they can fully convince."

In Gloria's Step , written by bassist Scott LaFaro and made known in collaboration with Bill Evans , bassist Miroslav Vitouš is featured, who demonstrates "all his skills" here. "His bass playing resembles the full sound of a saxophone from the Ayler School on the one hand, and that of a crazy gypsy violinist on the other."

In Wrong Is Right the two guitarists work with the rhythm section . “Coryell often makes use of faster, more thrilling passages, whereas McLaughlin prefers profound additions that develop into a structure in their harmony ; but nevertheless both know how to fit into the characteristic style of the other at times. ”In Chris , the pianist, who can only be heard here, plays“ the open and flowing Corea sound, ”which provides the atmospheric background for a rich guitar solo. In the end, Coryell dismisses the listener with a short solo piece New Year's Day in Los Angeles - 1968.

Track list

  1. Spaces (Infinite) (Julie Coryell) 9:16
  2. Rene's Theme (René Thomas) 4:06
  3. Gloria's Step (Scott LaFaro) 4:29
  4. Wrong Is Right (Larry Coryell) 9:00
  5. Chris (Julie Coryell) 9:31
  6. New Year's Day in Los Angeles - 1968 (Larry Coryell) 0:20

Reviews

In 1971, Bob Palmer wrote for Rolling Stone : "This is one of the most beautiful and perfect instrumental albums in a long time ... The music is hard and hypnotic and Coryell's interaction with McLaughlin sets an example for many guitarists to emulate." Scott Yanow writes for Allmusic (where the album received four out of five stars): "Overall, the music has its energetic moments, but also contains lyrical passages that are often missing in the fusion music of the 1970s."

" Spaces is an excellent album of early fusion jazz that is often overlooked," says the review of the Prog Review. The album is more of a jazz than a jazz rock album in terms of playing style, but the intertwined improvisations of the two guitarists leave it behind the album stand out from the crowd of productions. On All About Jazz, Sacha O'Grady said, “There is no doubt that Spaces was a groundbreaking album in several ways. As early as 1969/70 there was obviously something in the water, as if all the fundamental elements of the musical universe had come together to create ever more complex atoms and molecules, which then meant jazz fusion - a creation of new worlds whose possibilities were seemingly endless, even if they put a question mark to the listener what it all means. "

Alexander Schmitz notes: “There had never been such a kind of duo playing before, simply because there had never been such two guitarists. And nowhere has jazz rock presented itself more guitaristically - although one can probably still argue today whether these Spaces pieces were really still jazz rock or not something for which there was no name at all. ”This record is definitely the nucleus , from which Friday Night in San Francisco later developed.

Richard Cook and Brian Morton awarded the album the second highest rating of 3½ stars in The Penguin Guide to Jazz and consider it Coryell's most famous album; "A flowing, meditative record with a solid core of ideas and some impressive interaction between the two different guitarists." The inclusion of Scott LaFaro's Gloria's Step and René Thomas' Rene's theme was “a clear signal that this is not just another rock group , but a formation in the tradition of modern jazz ”.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ to ( page no longer available , search in web archives: Spaces (Infinite) (Jazz.com) ) []@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.jazz.com
  2. ↑ a b c Alexander Schmitz hearing of humanity  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.archtop-germany.de  
  3. ↑ a b c Review in ProgReview ( Memento from November 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Walter Kolosky Spaces (Infinite) (Jazz.com) ( Memento of the original from November 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jazz.com
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Robert Palmer, review of the album in Rolling Stone (translated on the cover of the German Electrola edition of the album from 1974).
  6. ↑ Review (All About Jazz)
  7. ↑ Cook / Morton, p. 338 (6th edition, 2003).

Web links