I’ve only been to the Montreux Jazz Festival the once in 2004. That was 30-years after Larry Coryell performed there for this recording, which is a 2021 Record Store Day Black Friday exclusive.
“At Monteux” wasn’t produced by Creed Taylor, Larry didn’t record with or for Creed until 6-years later, in 1980 as part of the Fuse One project, followed by other recordings. If Jazz-fusion, especially on the rock side of center, is your thing, this was a great performance. I know Larry is popular based on the comments and feedback I’ve received after posting the “Live in Bahia” laserdisc on youtube and the post here.
The Eleventh House, lead by Larry Coryell, were arguably the best Jazz-rock-fusion band of the time when they appeared on July 4th, 1974 at Montreux. The band effectively existed only between 1972 and 1975, but did reform a couple of times before Larry passed in 2017. The lineup for this live performance was Larry Coryell(Guitar), Mike Mandel(Keyboards), Danny Trifan(Bass), Alphonse Mouzon(Drums), Mike Lawrence(Trumpet).
The live recording has seen the light of day twice before[1]Larry Coryell & The Eleventh House – At Montreux. The vinyl album was originally released on Vanguard in 1978, and then Michael Cuscana supervised a CD reissue in 1993.
The album is again rereleased by Culture Factory on double split red translucent/yellow translucent vinyl. Limited to 2000 copies. Culture Factory also issued the Record Store Day 2021 Coryell “At The Village Gate” album.
“At Montreux” includes the following tracks:
“Improvisation On Villa-Lobos: Prelude No. 4 In E Minor”,
“Tamari”
“Joyride”
“Rasputin”
“Song For A New York Rainmaker”
“The Eleventh House Blues”
The whole album is on Youtube as a playlist. My favorite track, probably because of Mike Lawrence contributions, is “Rasputin”.
Lawrence died just 9-years after this performance from cancer, aged just 37. Mike’s wife, Roberta, put together a fantastic, posthumous album of his work, which includes Bob James and Herbie Hancock[2]Nightwind. It’s a classic of the genre and also worth tracking down.
If you want to own “At Montreux” on new vinyl, Black Friday is your chance[3]SpecialRelease | RECORD STORE DAY.
Thank you, Cathcam❤️ Roberta Lawrence
Thank you Roberta, Happy New Year!!
Feel free to let me know if you have any news about other releases by Mike or other artists you think I or my readers would like to hear about. ++Mark.