The restful mind (Larry Coryell) (LP 3099)

Larry Coryell  The Restful Mind (Vinyl, Vanguard Records, 1975) ***** 

Oregon  Out Of The Woods (Vinyl, Elektra Records, 1978) ***** 

Genre: Jazz fusion

Places I remember: Little Red Bookshop (Hastings)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Julie La Belle (The Restless Mind)

Gear costume: Yellow Bell (Out Of The Woods)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: Larry (on acoustic and electric guitars) is joined by three members of Oregon for this more meditative set. 

It's still intense in parts but compared to Larry's visceral approach elsewhere (type in his name in my search bar to read my previous posts) this is like a deep breath out. It's as far away from The Eleventh House as he can get.

The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz called The Restful Mind "a very special record that manages to avoid all the pitfalls usually associated with crossover projects that aim to marry jazz and classical music. This is Coryell at his thoughtful best'.

Oregon are that rare thing in jazz - a band that sticks together enough to forge a career for themselves. They were formed in 1970 by Ralph Towner, Paul McCandless, Glen Moore, and Collin Walcott.

Towner, Moore and Walcott appear on The Restful Mind and all four are on Out Of The Woods. They play acoustically and interchange instruments a lot. You can be individually talented and not gel as a team (plenty of football teams discover that), Oregon seem to be telepathically aligned and that makes for music to warm your soul.

Where do they all belong? A great pair for the jazz fusion section.