Murali Coryell
Encyclopedia
Murali Coryell is an American
blues
guitarist
and singer. Best known for performing live in small venues in New York State, Coryell has also opened for George Thorogood
, Gregg Allman
, B.B. King and Wilson Pickett
. While touring the United States, he uses local session musician
s for his performances rather than traveling with a regular backing band.
guitarist Larry Coryell
. Murali's first interest was in playing the drums but, in a move he calls "inevitable", he switched to guitar at a young age. Wanting to avoid competition with his father and his brother, Julian
, he perfected his own more mainstream style of soul and blues which draws comparisons to Jimi Hendrix
and Carlos Santana
. Others have likened his style to the Memphis soul
produced by labels such as Hi
and Stax Records
.
Coryell graduated from Staples High School
in Westport, Connecticut
, in 1987. He received a BA in music theory and composition from the SUNY New Paltz Music Department in 1992.
The title of his seond album 2120 was a reference to 2120 Michigan Avenue, the address of now-defunct R&B record label
Chess Records
. Coryell's maternal grandmother was the actress Carol Bruce
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and singer. Best known for performing live in small venues in New York State, Coryell has also opened for George Thorogood
George Thorogood
George Thorogood is an American blues rock vocalist/guitarist from Wilmington, Delaware, United States, known for his hit song "Bad to the Bone" as well as for covers of blues standards such as Hank Williams' "Move It On Over" and John Lee Hooker's "House Rent Boogie/One Bourbon, One Scotch, One...
, Gregg Allman
Gregg Allman
Gregory Lenoir Allman , known as Gregg Allman, is a rock and blues singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter, and a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia...
, B.B. King and Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
. While touring the United States, he uses local session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s for his performances rather than traveling with a regular backing band.
Background
Murali Coryell was born to Julie Coryell and famed jazz fusionJazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
guitarist Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell is an American jazz fusion guitarist.-Biography:Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas. He graduated from Richland High School, in Richland, Washington, where he played in local bands The Jailers, The Rumblers, The Royals, and The Flames. He also played with The Checkers from nearby...
. Murali's first interest was in playing the drums but, in a move he calls "inevitable", he switched to guitar at a young age. Wanting to avoid competition with his father and his brother, Julian
Julian Coryell
-Biography:Coryell was born in Pennsylvania in 1973 to famed jazz guitarist Larry Coryell and writer/actor /musician Julie Coryell, and grew up in Connecticut, New York and California. Coryell began playing the piano and drums at the age of 5, switched to violin at the age of 8, then to bass at the...
, he perfected his own more mainstream style of soul and blues which draws comparisons to Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
. Others have likened his style to the Memphis soul
Memphis soul
Memphis soul, also known as Memphis Sound, is stylish, funky, uptown soul music that is not as hard-edged as Southern soul. It is a shimmering, sultry style produced in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax and Hi Records in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring melodic unison horn lines, organ, bass, and a driving...
produced by labels such as Hi
Hi Records
Hi Records was a Memphis soul and rockabilly label started in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch , and three silent partners, including Cuoghi's lawyer, Nick Pesce....
and Stax Records
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
.
Coryell graduated from Staples High School
Staples High School
Staples High School is a public secondary school, that opened on April 26, 1884 located in the town of Westport, Connecticut, USA. Staples High School is named after its founder Horace Staples who founded the school in 1884. The school was first located at Riverside Ave. and moved to its current...
in Westport, Connecticut
Westport, Connecticut
-Neighborhoods:* Saugatuck – around the Westport railroad station near the southwestern corner of the town – a built-up area with some restaurants, stores and offices....
, in 1987. He received a BA in music theory and composition from the SUNY New Paltz Music Department in 1992.
The title of his seond album 2120 was a reference to 2120 Michigan Avenue, the address of now-defunct R&B record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
. Coryell's maternal grandmother was the actress Carol Bruce
Carol Bruce
Carol Bruce was an American band singer, Broadway star, and film and television actress.Bruce was born Shirley Levy in Great Neck, New York, the daughter of Beatrice and Harry Levy. She began her career as a singer in the late 1930s with Larry Clinton and his band...
.
Discography
- Eyes Wide Open (1995)
- 2120 (1999)
- The Coryells (2000) - with Larry and Julian Coryell
- Strong as I Need to Be (2003)
- The Future of Blues - EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
(2005) - The Same Damn Thing (2008)
- Sugar Lips (2009)