Larry Koones

As one of the pioneers of jazz-rock – perhaps the pioneer in the ears of some – Larry Coryell deserves a special place in the history books. He brought what amounted to a nearly alien sensibility to jazz electric guitar playing in the 1960s, a hard-edged, cutting tone, and phrasing and note-bending that owed as much to blues, rock, and even country as it did to earlier, smoother bop influences.

Al Cohn was an American jazz saxophonist, arranger and composer. He came to prominence in the band of clarinetist Woody Herman and was known for his longtime musical partnership with fellow saxophonist Zoot Sims…

The names Larry Coryell and John Abercrombie are synonymous with Jazz fusion guitar for the past thirty odd years. With those two names on the masthead it is fair to assume that you're in store for phenomenal guitar playing. But the inclusion of Badi Assad, an unknown quantity for me, resulted in a performance of the likes I could not have anticipated. The guitar playing was superlative, with all three proving their virtuosity on many an occasion, but Assad was unlike any performer I have ever seen before. While her guitar playing is significant, her vocal gymnastics and percussion proficiency stole the spotlight from her more famous band mates.

In late 2006, the New Morning presented an incredible meeting of legendary blues players specially flown in from Nashville & Tokyo, to live it up in Paris. As the climax of the club's 25th Anniversary Festival - and a birthday gift from the musicians - this Franco-American guitar summit brought together for the first time the members of Autour du Blues (the cream of France's top studio musicians) and two of America's most brilliant guitar heroes, Larry Carlton and Robben Ford.