Murali Coryell
July 2000

"When my father, my brother and I play together, the music is all just one. If you can make music together, the understanding among family members is a lot better."

Don Williamson interviews
Julian Coryell
Larry Coryell

The Coryells
Chesky
2000

The Coryells
Reviewed by
C. Michael Bailey
Don Williamson

By Don Williamson

ALLABOUTJAZZ: Was it difficult to get your family together to record and tour together?

MC: We make the time to do it. We’re all different, but we’re all from the same family. And we’re all musically compatible, I’d like to think.

AAJ: That’s what your father had to say.

MC: He must be getting nervous because his oldest son is getting married in two weeks [June 17, 2000]. People are coming from all over the country—California, Ohio, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania. I’m lucky and amazed that my fiancé and I feel good enough that we want to marry each other. It’s totally mutual, we’re a great team, and we love each other. We’re getting more in love with each other, which I guess is as it should be two weeks before the wedding. We’ve been together for eight years. We know each other, but yet we’ve grown a lot as individuals. It’s all about being committed to loving each other through the changes that are going to happen in our lives, separately and together.

AAJ: It wasn’t a short engagement.

MC: I wasn’t married before, and I didn’t have exactly the best role models because my parents had been divorced. Sometimes you just have to live. I mean, I love life. I’ve been sick with physical illnesses, and I was upset when my parents were divorced. There are always pluses and minuses that go with being brought up by a famous musician. But I’m so happy at this point in my life.

AAJ: You said you had a serious illness.

MC: Yes, I have Crohn’s Disease, which is an intestinal inflammation. It’s in remission, but it’s like you could die from it if you didn’t take medicine for it. It causes a lot of pain, and people who have it are usually very skinny, and they don’t absorb their nutrition well. I’m lucky it’s in remission. Because I’ve suffered at some points in my life, as many of us have, I try to cling on to the happy moments of life in everything that I do. We can let things rule us, or we can control our own lives.

AAJ: How did you meet your fiancé?

MC: She saw me playing in a bar and thought I looked like one of the Beatles. She didn’t know which one; she thought they all look the same. She’s not from a musical background at all, but yet we definitely had instant chemistry. She’s a registered nurse. She has developed more of an ear for music, and she’s very opinionated. I appreciate her opinions as a layman because I’m not interested in excluding anybody from my listening audience. Whether I’m playing jazz, blues or R&B, I would like to think that everything I’m doing is accessible to everybody. I like to tell a story in a solo so that listeners can feel something as a result.

AAJ: Do you plan to continue to live there?

MC: We plan to stay here, but we definitely want to move out of the house we’re renting. We’re getting so many wedding presents that we need a bigger house. We plan to have children right away, and so we’ll need more space. Plus, if I ever get another dog, my fiancé says we have to get a bigger backyard.

AAJ: You’ll have to record and tour more to be able to afford a bigger house.

MC: That’s why I’m doing The Wolf Trap Blues and Jazz Festival in Vienna, Virginia a week after the wedding. My group will be setting up some other things like going to Milwaukee and Chicago. Once you play in a city, you want to go back there soon before people forget about you. Radio announcers will play your CD the day of your show. When you leave, there’s something else happening. It helps to go back and capitalize on the trip because not everybody is listening to the radio at the same time.

AAJ: Have you played at The House Of Blues?

MC: I played The House Of Blues in Cambridge, Massachusetts and New Orleans back in 1995 on the “Eyes Wide Open” tour. Lately, though, The House Of Blues has hired some acts that haven’t played the blues at all. That’s good, but sometimes it draws criticism from the blues Nazis, so to speak. The blues over-purists. But today, the music is expanding, and there’s room for everything. Much of it is related to each other.

AAJ: Well, there are jazz Nazis too.

MC: For sure.

AAJ: Getting back to the wedding, are you inviting just family, or are musicians invited too?

MC: Lots of family and friends, and some of those friends are musicians. Member of the band Little Feat will be there if they’re not on tour. We invited Randy and Michael Brecker, but I think Michael will be on tour. The music world includes people who are our friends. Everyone from my side of the family is music-oriented, and everyone from my fiancé’s isn’t into music at all. It clearly shows that a couple’s interests can be different, and the chemistry can still be there.

AAJ: How many people will be there?

MC: One hundred and thirty.

AAJ: One thing that struck me about “The Coryells” album when I read the liner notes and looked at the photographs is that Julian seems to have a darker outlook than you do.

MC: Yeah! You noticed that!

AAJ: And now you have an optimistic view of marriage even though your parents went through a divorce. The liner notes to Julian’s album says that “all relationships are impaired.” So you seem to be very different personalities.

MC: We both had the same parents and we both have a lot of similarities. Yet, we’re so different. We definitely have different views about marriage. He’s a little bit younger than I am, and I attribute his views to his age. We also had somewhat different upbringings, even though we were in the same house for a great deal of time. We have different musicals styles and different outlooks. We kind of separated. We’re best friends now. He’ll be best man in my wedding. The great thing is that we can get together musically, and “The Coryells” album is a great example of that. When we play together, the music is all just one. The outlooks go away, and the playing just becomes music—more than the sum of its parts. A lot of families fight. If you can make music together, the understanding among family members is a lot better.

AAJ: It’s great that you can retain an optimistic outlook after the divorce.

MC: I put myself through a lot of mental anguish. Then one day, I realized, “What am I doing? I’d be happier to let this go. I’ve got to get on with my life.” People carry issues with them for their whole life. Unless they deal with them, they’re holding onto this emotional baggage that holds them back. I already have a big load to carry anyway: a wedding and a career, for example. Once we realize that we’re in control of our lives, we can be responsible for the power that we have. Options always exist. You’re never backed into a corner. A lot of people do things out of desperation instead.

AAJ: Getting into your music, your father thinks that Jimi Hendrix’ presence had an influence on your development.

MC: I was less than a year old when my father took me to one of the concerts in San Francisco. Obviously, I don’t even remember when that happened, but I’ve always been told about it. Jimi Hendrix was a huge influence. If I had to pick one guitar player as an influence in innovation and sound, it would be him--certainly in the rock category. The first record my dad ever gave me was “Are You Experienced?” He circled different songs on it like “Manic Depression,” “Purple Haze,” “Hey Joe” and “Foxy Lady.” He said, “You’re going to like this one, and you’re going to like this one.” Eventually, I circled all of the songs. I was eight or nine at the time. Jimi Hendrix never left the blues, and that’s where I feel like I’m coming from. I remember that I was once in a Grateful Dead cover band that started as a blues jam. They fired me because I was too bluesy. I said, “I’m sorry. I’m not Jerry. If I’m too bluesy, I can’t help it.” Rather than deny what I am, I tried to become better at playing the blues.

AAJ: Julian said that your father tried to protect both of you at first and guide you away from being a musician because it was a hard life for him. But once he found out that you were committed to music, he tried to guide you along your own paths, instead of trying to force you into a genre you weren’t interested in.

MC: Or a genre I wasn’t ready for. Jazz came easily to my brother. Julian can play over modes, and he plays changes like crazy, man. Julian can play the hell out of everything. It always seemed uncanny to me how he could learn things like “Giant Steps” and be able to play it really fast.

AAJ: And you couldn’t even handle “Four.”

MC: Oh yeah. I tried the first eight bars, and then, “Oh, no! I messed up!” And my dad would say, “You’ve got to get this together, son.” That was very discouraging. I’ve discovered that some songs are designed to be difficult. I believe that if the tune is too difficult, you’re not playing it right. Once you put the time into learning a song, every song is equally important, and every song is equally hard to play well and to get to the essence of it. However, some songs are more easily played than others. For example, anybody can play “Mustang Sally” and make it sound pretty good. For years and years, I had heard “Goodbye Porkpie Hat,” which we play on “The Coryells”. I played it from time to time in my life. After a certain amount of time living with that song, I decided that in the right situation I could make a really good version of it. The years of living and listening to jazz enabled us to do what we did on that record.

AAJ: What’s interesting about your father is that he can play all types of music, while you split into blues and Julian split into alternative rock.

MC: Exactly. Today, so many different kinds of music are combining with each other. But to me, what my father did on “The Coryells” record is so representative of his work during his entire career. He has always done it all. He has always been able to play the hell out of the blues. He could always play the fusion. He could always play straight-ahead and bebop. He could always play acoustic. He could always play classical, or whatever music he may want to perform. So “The Coryells” is a very nice summation of my father’s career to this point. And his sons’ work is on the record too. Amazon.com’s review of “The Coryells” said that “Larry Coryell is giving birth to a virtual guitar dynasty.” I just think more people should hear this record because my dad is acknowledged as one of the most talented but not enough promoted guitarists. Some of the vocal tracks on the album like “Love And Happiness” and “Goodbye Porkpie Hat” are getting airplay on jazz and blues radio stations. In a way, it introduces blues fans to my father’s music, and it introduces jazz people to my brother and me.

AAJ: Do you think you will record again as a family?

MC: I hope so. If the record sold a lot of copies, that would ensure that we record again, as long as there are no contractual complications. Chesky had to get permission from my label, CZYZ Records, for me to perform on “The Coryells.” While it broadens the audience for my music, some other labels may object for their artists. Other companies want certain artists to be available only on their label. The point I like to make is, “Look, I’m the artist. If you want me to be on your label, let me have my freedom to do what I need to do.” It’s not like a marriage. Until you get famous, you need all of the promotion you can get. Also, musicians need to work! If you get a studio gig that pays well and you can’t take, that’s going to make you mad. My friend, Joe Louis Walker --the great blues singer from the West Coast--told me, “Murali, it’s OK to sign a bad contract. But don’t sign a long bad contract.” That’s what I have a lawyer for. In the old days, the musicians signed whatever was given to them. Their alternative was to remain obscure. Musicians didn’t have many choices fifty years ago. Like, Little Richard recorded all of those specialty sides at twenty bucks a pop. That was all he ever got for them.

AAJ: In some cases, the musicians are able to own their own music.

MC: It makes me extremely happy that I own my first record, “Eyes Wide Open,” even though I was signed to the label five or six years ago. It went out of business since then. The main thing is, if people like your music, you want it to be available. If you sell a lot of records you own, and you get a lot of money for it, that’s great.

AAJ: When did you first start playing guitar?

MC: When I was fifteen years old. I started playing drums at ten, and I took piano lessons around that time too. But I didn’t really want to play music.

AAJ: Why weren’t you interested in guitar before you were fifteen?

MC: It was too intimidating. I was afraid of the expectation that everyone would say, “Oh you’ve got to be great like your dad.”

AAJ: Didn’t Julian start guitar before that age?

MC: Yes. He had perfect pitch, and he was a child prodigy. He was blazing when he was seven years old.

AAJ: What did you do if you didn’t learn guitar until fifteen?

MC: I was playing baseball and basketball. I was doing regular stuff--trying to meet girls. Naturally, I couldn’t avoid the music forever. When my parents got divorced, I really turned to the guitar. The music kind of saved me.

AAJ: Julian said that the music saved his life too.

MC: It does save lives. I sensed that I was losing my dad--not forever, but that he would start a new life by remarrying.

AAJ: But you stayed with your father while Julian moved to the West Coast with his mother.

MC: I stayed with my father for one year, but he was never there. I was living with his fiancé at the time because he was always on the road. He had to work to pay for a divorce and a new marriage. It was an uncomfortable situation for me and my step-mother. When I was seventeen, I went to the National Guitar Workshop. I learned theory, modes and the scales there. I should mention that I’m a faculty member of the National Guitar Workshop now, and I’ll be there two weeks this summer to teach an R&B seminar, as well as a course called Electronic Blues And Voice. Anyway, after I studied at the Workshop as a teen, I went away to college in New Paltz, New York. My mom and my brother moved to California after my first semester there. So that left just me living at school. That’s also the time when I was very sick too. So I really depended on my guitar and the music to keep me busy in school. Before I had switched to become a music major, I was a languages major: Russian studies, and French and Spanish literature. However, the music enabled me to find myself and my own identity--and my own life and career eventually.

AAJ: Didn’t you perform with your father before the divorce?

MC: Yes, I had. My brother played with my dad a lot more than I did.

AAJ: It’s interesting that your brother moved to the West Coast and performed more with your father, while you stayed in the same vicinity.

MC: My brother is perfect for my dad. My dad has done a lot of guitar duos and trios with Emily Remler, Vic Juris and Laurindo Almeida. Julian can flat-out play anything. He’s that talented and that quick. Believe me, my dad has taken as much use of Julian as he could.

Anyway, I started performing in every place I could. I helped start a band, and we got our first paying gig. I started out in a rock band, and then I was in a jazz ensemble in college. A friend on the West Coast named Miles Tackett, a good friend and a producer, got me into James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone and funk music. I went gaga over Al Green when I discovered him, and then I discovered Donny Hathaway and gospel music. I became like a total music fanatic. I just have a very strong connection with the blues, and so whatever I do, it’s going to have the blues in it. It’s very important to me that my music has that emotional content that people can feel. I think that people listen to music so that they can feel something that takes them out of their physical selves. Also, I went through a heavy Latin phase and listened to a lot of Cuban music because those guys have the best sense of time. They’re so dead on! They’re like clocks. I have a great CD, tape and video collection. I have so much, but there’s still so much that I want to get. It’s never ending. Right after college, I got a job as a waiter. I as fired from that job. Then I was rehired, and I got to quit after I got a job at Bearsville Studios, where I recorded my “2120” CD. I got a gig traveling with Richie Havens, and right after that I quit the studio job and went full time.

Shortly after that, I joined Duke Robillard’s band. Two weeks with Duke led to my “Eyes Wide Open” record deal. After five years, I recorded “2120”. “Eyes Wide Open” was like an R&B soul record. “2120” was a blues rock record. And “The Coryells” was an acoustic jazz/blues/fusion record.

AAJ: How long were you with Duke Robillard?

MC: Three or four months. He had just been signed to Virgin Records, and then his second guitar player, Paul Murphy from Providence, died on the road. While Duke was on tour, he needed another guitar player. It was very strange for me to step in and try to replace Paul, who really couldn’t be replaced. Also, I had always been used to being the front man. Going from being the front man to the side man was a big adjustment for me. But it helped my rhythm playing a lot. I got to featured a couple of time, and that’s what led to the record deal.

AAJ: Did someone hear you on tour?

MC: Exactly. I was playing at Tornado Alley in Washington D.C., where the record company is located. They said right away, “Hey, do you have any originals? We want to sign you.” It was on Big Mo Records at the time, but now it’s Murali’s Music Records. But someone is still selling the Big Mo records. It could be that the records are being counterfeited. Whatever the case may be, I know whoever’s doing it isn’t paying me.

AAJ: Did you play with Rod Gross and Bill Foster back then?

MC: That was before I met Rod and Bill. I started playing with Bill in 1996 and with Rod in 1997. I hadn’t played with those guys for a little while before the “2120” CD was released. Sometimes I use different rhythm sections for different purposes. But The Jazz and Blues Festival in Vienna, Virginia will feature Rod and Bill.

AAJ: How did you meet them?

MC: They’re originally from Maryland, but they live in New York City. Bill Foster was playing in my dad’s band, and I met him then. Rod and Bill had been friends since their Maryland days. I always like to find rhythm sections that are tight.

AAJ: You met Marshall Chess in 1997.

MC: He called me and said, “I want to get back into the record business. Maybe you can help me.” I said, “I need a new record. Maybe you can help me.” The initial sales of “2120” were slower than expected, but he sees that the record sells when I tour. We feel that the “2120” record is a classic and that it just needs to be heard. Marshall now wants to make another record that will feature a lot of my original songs. We recorded about forty different songs for “2120”, and Marshall said that one of the tracks that wasn’t on the record may be used in a television commercial. That would be great because when people ask "Who are you?” I could say, “I’m the guy who sings the commercial.”

AAJ: Do you have any plans to work with your father and brother some more?

MC: I would like to see The Coryells grow, not reproducing tunes from the album, but expanding the concept or making it better. If it makes you feel good and there’s no denying it, that’s what’s important. It involves communication, and it’s life.