By: Joe Lang
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Victor Bailey, Lenny White and Larry Coryell
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Getting to see three giants of a genre get together to create music is a rare event that should be snatched up at the first opportunity. I just wish more people knew that.
On Tuesday, three of the biggest fusion giants in the world took the stage at the Dakota. On drums was Lenny White, the self-taught prodigy who came to prominence at the beginning of the ‘70s playing on Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew sessions and with fusion heavyweights Return to Forver, featuring Chuck Corea. Holding up the bottom end was Victor Bailey, the man who had the balls to fit some of the biggest shoes in jazz—Jaco Pastorius’ (in Weather Report). And on guitar, Larry Coryell. Allmusic.com describes Coryell as “a true eclectic, armed with a brilliant technique, he is comfortable in almost every style, covering almost every base from the most decibel-heavy, distortion-laden electric work to the most delicate, soothing, intricate lines on acoustic guitar.” From his work in The 11th House to his acoustic work with John Mclaughlin and Paco De Lucia to his current lineups, he has been cemented as one of the premier fusion guitarists of the day.
[Fellow HowWasTheShow.com contributor] Billy Graves and I sat in the mezzanine, and watched as the dividing curtain was pulled from the center of the room, indicating the size of the show. As the curtain was pulled, I watched in horror as it pulled Coryell’s acoustic guitar out of its stand and onto the stage and it landed with an audible thud. As the trio took the stage again, one of the Dakota’s employees knocked the guitar off of the stage adding, well, injury to injury.
Coryell seemed unfazed and calmly returned the guitar to its stand, and the trio started in on their first song of the evening. The piece had the trio galloping at full speed with lighting quick melodic and tempo changes that featured some of what Coryell is known for: quick guitar leads. The rhythm section took a back seat as Coryell played his Hamer guitar with soap bar pickups accentuating chromatic runs and flourishes. As the piece came to a crescendo, Bailey got ready to lay down the groove on the second piece.
With a melody similar to Jimi Hendrix’s “Third Stone From the Sun,” Bailey sang jarring falsetto for the head of the song before playing a solo full of chords, tappin’ and thwappin’ licks that became his signature style in Weather Report. Coryell’s playing was some of the more melodic of the set, and his tone was better than on some of the other numbers.
Lenny White picked up the mic and began humorously bantering to the crowd about strange and unrelated topics including the exclusion of Pluto as a planet, the record of the Vikings, and Minneapolis. As he talked, he looked over to the other half of the room (the non ticket buyers) who were being extremely loud and asked, “I wonder if I can get in on that conversation.” Shortly after, the curtain was drawn again, and while it kept the noise down somewhat, the diners could still be heard throughout the set, particularly when the dynamics dropped.
The crowd was easy to ignore as the band began playing what Lenny called, “an old English tune by a band from the 20th century.” Bailey played a high register melody on his bass and the three ripped into Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog.” One of the highlights of the set, the tune ended with Bailey and Coryell trading back and fourth licks which, while cool for a while, had Coryell playing overly fast distorted lines that seemed to amount to bullshit towards the end.
Afterwards, Coryell picked up his acoustic guitar and played the theme to the film “Black Orpheus,” sans pick. It was the first of three ballad’s including Gershwin’s “Our Love is Here to Stay” and “Dedication,” written by Lenny White for his wife. Coryell on the acoustic, while not as flashy, was more melodic and continuous in his ideas, which made for more fulfilling playing.
The group finished off the set with Lenny White’s “Wolfbane,” the leadoff track to the group’s 2005 debut. The tune featured a lush and dark melody that I can only describe as evil carnival music on steroids. The dynamics of the song built and exploded with Bailey and Coryell playing a vamp hitting the one (beat) as White played an incendiary solo, and before the audience knew it, the set was over.
Billy and my reactions to the show were quite different. Billy had a hard time dealing with some of the lighting quick tempo and dynamics changes, whereas I thrived on them. All in all, the evening was chance to see a solid, if not incredible set from three fusion giants.
Location Info:
Dakota Jazz Club
Artist Info: Larry Coryell, Lenny White, Victor Bailey
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