Sunday Music Muse Day - Metheny Mehldau, Tony Williams, and RIP Larry Coryell.

Welcome to another Sunday Music Muse Day, where I share newly acquired music and old favorites, and this week to sadly note the passing of a music great.  First is a CD that its minimalist  title and cover art belies the great music of the two musician featured on it.  Metheny Mehldau is a duet CD of guitarist, Pat Metheny, and pianist, Brad Mehldau playing a set of originals by both.  The liner notes reveals their deep mutual respect for the each other, and they show that in their playing.   I've CDs of both, leading their own groups. and this CD is a nice addition to the list.

Next is an interesting find, Tony Wiliams (Anthony Williams on the original LP cover) Life Time. This was the legendary drummer's first recording as a leader, at age 19, and playing with Miles Davis, in fact the personal of this date include his Davis band mates. (I think Blue Note, the record company, used "Anthony" to make him seem more mature)  The music is more avant garde, spontaneous, and improvisational than his later Jazz Fusion group Tony William Lifetime that he formed in 1969 after leaving Miles. The word "Life Time" must have had held a special meaning Tony since he used it again for his New Lifetime groups in 1977, 1979, 1980.  His Blue Note recording definitely heralded great things to come.

On a sad note, this week marked the passing of jazz guitar great Larry Coryell.  Best known for his trailblazing jazz fusion playing. As eulogized in the New York Times, " Larry Coryell a virtuoso guitarist who in the 1960s was among the first musicians to bring a rock sound and sensibility to jazz, and who continued to blur the lines between genres throughout his career, died on Sunday in Manhattan. He was 73."  To me, he and his contemporaries, like guitarist John Mclaughlin and pianist Chick Corea bridged the gap between Rock and Jazz.  Once you followed these guys int the world of Jazz, it was hard to settle for a steady diet of Rock music ever again.  I featured an early album Spaces just a week or so ago, and his last recording Barefoot Man:  Sanpaku, currently, too. 

I really enjoy reaching his musical journey, and I'm sad it has ended, but he will live in the great legacy of music he has left us with.