Joy Spring is a compilation of straight-ahead tracks that guitarist
Larry Coryell recorded over a four-year period for the Muse label, now reissued on the refueled and retooled Savoy Jazz label. Recorded a decade after his super fusion
Eleventh House band split,
Coryell is in the company of first-rate jazz talent on these three sessions with such luminaries as
Stanley Cowell,
Billy Hart,
Buster Williams,
Marvin "Smitty" Smith, and
Beaver Harris (
Cowell being the only constant). The tunes range form standards like the Arlen & Mercer classic "My Shining Hour," and
Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays" to a completely reharmonized version of
Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight,"
Wayne Shorter's "Nefertiti," and a wailing read of
Clifford Brown's "Joy Spring," which opens the album. There are also fine interpretations of
John Coltrane's "Moment's Notice" and
Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady." The only problem is that while the disc does show
Coryell's straight chops in fine form and his band swinging like mad, it can feel a little schizophrenic at times, given the range of material, but perhaps that's inevitable for a comp that is apt to showcase just how deep the guitarist's roots go. ~ Thom Jurek