Barefoot Boy

A sharp, icy wind was blowing the nights of these sessions, and Coryell and his musicians arrived at Electric Lady studios ready to burn. Ace engineer Eddie Kramer was ready behind the dials, so that there were few wasted moments, and no false starts. The musicians got right down to business, and Kramer made sure their first efforts were captured with balance and fidelity, so that second takes were unnecessary. It should come as no surprise that the studio which is now a monument to one of the great ELECTRIC guitarists of the age, Jimi Hendrix, inspired Coryell to make his most ELECTRIC recording to date. Gabor Szabo's "Gypsy Queen", also recorded by Santana, is an especially strong example of how Larry combines the fleet-fingered imagination of a jazzman with the use of feedback and textural effects pioneered by rock guitarists like Hendrix.

"Gypsy Queen" was the result of the presence of some players and the absence of others early on the second night of recording. The rhythm section of drum veteran Roy Haynes, percussionist Harry Wilkinson (who handles the drum set in Coryell's performing group), and conga player Lawrence Killian locked together immediately into an engine of unbelievable power, and Coryell and saxophonist Steve Marcus, left to shoulder the entire melodic and harmonic weight, responded to the challenge with playing that had the listeners in the control booth first sitting on the edge of their seats, them smiling broadly, and finally jumping up and down. It was one of those examples of turning an unlooked-for situation to great advantage that makes the creativity of improvised music even more exciting than it ordinarily is.

The addition of Mervin Bronson, a rock-solid Soul Man, on bass, and, at the second session, pianist Michael Mandel, rounded out a fine group and made a more lyrical approach possible. Yet the music, even at its prettiest, retained the fire and inspiration of "Gypsy Queen". The atmosphere at Electric Lady contributed to a balance of free expression and technical precision that gave the music room to grow and become, so that the resulting album displays both the singular chops and the singular warmth of Larry Coryell, complemented by a variegated and committed group of fine musicians.