In his liner notes,
Julian Coryell recalls the offer his father was made to perform for a live DVD (of which this album is the audio complement), presumably by director Daniel E. Meza. "Which music?," the son asked. "All the old stuff,"
Larry Coryell replied. And so it is. In a one-night-only concert at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood, CA, on October 13, 2005,
Coryell, accompanied by "the Soul Dirges Band" (drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, bassist John Hart, and
Julian Coryell on guitar and keyboards, with guests David Hidalgo of
Los Lobos and trumpeter
Winston Byrd, each appearing on two tunes), delved into his catalog of tunes dating back to the late '60s and early '70s. The result is a blues- and rock-oriented set. In fact, from the opener, "The Opening," the first of several songs on which
Coryell sings as well as playing electric guitar, one almost could be listening to
Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys. By the time of the extended finale, "The Dragon Gate," with
Byrd coming in, the stylistic range has tilted more toward jazz, but for much of this album an uninformed listener would peg this as a rock album, not a jazz one, and that isn't really a bad thing. ~ William Ruhlmann