All About Larry Coryell, pt.2.
Email correspondence (in 2014)
Just a few emails we exchanged in 2014. I provide some explanatory notes in square brackets. The first email listed is four days after the Tokyo Blue Note gig... he was a busy man...
We can get some real-time insight into his War & Peace project, a real sense of his passion...
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From Jan 24 2014
Dear Martin
All is calm here in Nagoya--bright sunshine. We play here tonight, return to Tokyo (with a free evening) tomorrow afternoon. Next gig (CC) is, I believe, Saturday the 25th.
Best regards
Larry c
[CC = Cotton Club, in Tokyo]
[Nice to hear that Larry and Ron and Peter could have some free time in the midst of their hectic Japan tour. I hope they enjoyed the sushi!]
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On Monday, March 10, 2014 4:53 AM, Martin Connolly wrote:
Dear Larry,
Hope you're well. I wonder did you ever get that package I sent you (to the Cotton Club in Tokyo)?
You kind of dropped off the radar!
Best,
Martin
Mon 10 Mar 2014 at 22:13
Dear Martin
Sorry, I thought I had acknowledged that delivery to you. Must have sent an email that bounced back. Yeah, I definitely got it and cherish the s--- out of it. The items you so kindly and generously sent me haven't left my side since I received them; I'm looking at the wonderful CD of Joyce's voice on my desk as we speak.
Now I'm looking forward to next Monday when I depart for Dublin to play a concert there with the group "Miles Smiles" on the 18th of March. I read and re-read "Grace" and "The Dead" and I'm learning more interesting details of Joyce's masterful technique with each subsequent perusal.
Sorry about the mixup. Can't wait to return to Tokyo so we can hang out again . . . :)
I'm very busy now recording singers for "War and Peace", my special project. It's insane here.
Once again, I'm so appreciative of your efforts!
Best regards
Larry c
[I had sent Larry a copy of the short story collection Dubliners (1914) by James Joyce (1882-1941) together with a CD I made for him containing a track by Irish guitarist John Feeley (from his Immigrant's Song) who plays a song using Joyce’s original guitar. The CD also contained a recording of Joyce reading from Ulysses (1922) and Finnegans Wake (1939). I worried if he had received the package, but thankfully he had.]
[‘Grace’ and ‘The Dead’ are the final two stories of Dubliners. In my face-to-face meeting with Larry at Tokyo Blue Note, he also made mention of another story ‘Ivy Day in the Committee Room’, saying it had moved him to tears. I find this very telling about Larry as a reader because these three stories are among the most difficult in the collection. A huge part of that difficulty lies in the wealth of detail which ties them to that particular time, around 1900, in Ireland and to the influence of the Catholic church. If I were teaching Dubliners, I’d be wary of choosing ‘Ivy Day’ or ‘Grace’ in particular, as I’d need to provide students with at least some rudimentary knowledge of the local detail and temporal conditions. Indeed, it took me half a lifetime to warm to these stories, particularly ‘Ivy Day’ and ‘Grace’. It was only when I really looked at them could I see what was so brilliant. Clearly, Larry was in tune with Mr Joyce by just reading with the eyes of an artist.]
[By the way, it’s possible Larry found ‘Grace’ compelling in particular as it is the story of man who falls prey to his own indulgence, quite literally (down the stairs!), and is coaxed into some kind of resolve to open a new chapter in his life by his friends.]
[‘Ivy Day’ concerns political life in Dublin in the wake of the vacuum caused by the fall of Charles Stewart Parnell. The story ends on a poem which is overly sentimental but at least gives some expression to the sense of loss and societal culpability at the loss of the man called ‘The Uncrowned King of Ireland’. That Larry loved this story suggests he had some very good knowledge of Irish history and a deep love for the country.]
[So exciting to hear that Larry was going to Ireland! I look forward to hearing any recordings he may have done there. I remember exchanging some text messages with him when he was in Ireland and hanging out in some hotel lobby relaxing. I loved the idea of Larry doing that.]
[‘The Dead’ is about a Christmas party where music is a central focus and everyone has a lot of fun -except for the main character. It is one of the most compelling stories ever written and is highly poetic. See the film by John Huston. I’m sure Larry watched it.]
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Wed 12 Mar 2014 at 22:32
Martin
Thank you, I'll do my best. My big project, "War and Peace" is slowly coming together. I'm composing an additional aria for soprano and wind quintet to express some additional items embedded in Tolstoy's humanistic message.
Regards
Larry c
On Tuesday, March 11, 2014 4:00 AM, Martin Connolly wrote:
Larry, have a wonderful time in the Emerald Isle, keep on rockin' and making all that hip music for the world, we need it,
best, Martin
On Mar 11, 2014, at 5:59 AM, Coryell wrote:
Martin
Wow--great email from you Martin. I'm tired from the session of w&p so I can't really respond adequately to your great, encouraging words. But I feel your message.
Thank you,
Hope to c u soon,
Larry c
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On Wednesday, March 12, 2014 10:00 AM, Martin Connolly wrote:
Dear Larry,
sounds great. I love 'War & Peace' [the novel]. I wonder if you might find some ideas in the soundtracks for the two great cinematic versions...
Anyway, have a wonderful time in Ireland. I"ll be seeing your friend John McL in Tokyo the week after next. (I'm hoping to interview him, so if you have his ear....!)
Which reminds me, condolences on the passing of the one and only Paco recently. Your concert at the Albert Hall with John & Paco was always an inspiration for me (having watched it about sixty times!). I shed a tear for the man.
Best,
Martin
Fri 14 Mar 2014 at 21:41
Martin
Thanks so much for your kind email.
Say "hey" to John--he's a clever boy!
Re your suggestions re w&p you need first to hear what I've composed--it's been four years in the making. We're recording some of the final arias today. I'm unbelievably nervous as we approach the finish line. I want it to be "right", if that makes any sense.
It's something I would hope JJ would appreciate. I put multiple lifetimes into this effort in order to, I hope, shake people up and bring them to their senses regarding violence.
I'll be playing the final version of w&p friends & family within the next month or so, I hope--I'll play it for you when we are together in person (somehow--maybe another trip to Japan in the offing). Then we have to see about staging a production. Again, I'll be tapping into the spirit of JJ for inspiration and guidance.
We need more people like him today . . . :)
All the best!
Larry c
[Isn’t it so awesome to see Larry being so excited about his War & Peace project? And, isn’t it so touching how he re-states the inspiration for it -his way of expressing the need for humanity to stand up and reject violence as societal madness. He has the drive and energy and passion of a true artist and true humanitarian.]
[I’m also moved by his words about James Joyce. I am sure Joyce would have been delighted to have met and known Larry Coryell, and to see in him the true visionary artist that he was.]
[Wow….. regarding War & Peace…. he says ‘I'll play it for you when we are together in person’. Wow. Just wow. That breaks my heart!]