SPACES REVISITED

The problem with an artist like Larry Coryell is the sheer size of his discography. Every album he puts out could be considered one of the staples of the jazz/rock culture, but he never makes a point to top any of his previous releases. Each new album could be the second half of the one before it, and this rubs off on the listener as a lack of variety.

Larry Coryell is, in my opinion at least, one of the finest jazz guitarists to ever come out of America and "Spaces Revisited" is no exception to that statement. The guitar work on it is fantastic, and we can see once again what a true virtuoso of the instrument Mr. Coryell really is. Not to mention the amazing guest line-up on the album which features the incomparable Billy Cobham on drums and Richard Bona on bass. Those two form an incredibly tight rhythm section which gives Coryell and endless possibility of soloing. And when I mention soloing, the first song that comes to my mind off of this album is the mind-blowing "Blues for Django and Stephane". I have never heard a jazz piece with so much intensity and just plain driven power coming off of it, and the whole song is relentless for its whole 5:24 duration. However, no matter how hard you keep your ears pressed to this album, the rest of the music will fail to impress and ultimately end up slipping into the background as "just another jazz piece". Like I mentioned before, there is no variety here, aside from the aforementioned "Blues for Django and Stephane".

This album is good for those of you who would like to hear the innovative side of American jazz guitar soloists, but I am afraid if you are in it for a riveting and extraordinarily new jazz experience, you have picked the wrong album. It's just too bland to catch and hold attention, therefore I give it 3 stars.