Born in Texas, young Larry Coryell made his way to New York City in 1965, replacing Gabor Szabo in drummer Chico Hamilton’s band. Later, he joined forces with vibist Gary Burton to form one of the first jazz groups to openly integrate the sounds of rock, country, funk, and Indian music. (Later on, it was simply called fusion.) Striking out on his own in the late ‘60s, Coryell roared with his own brand of jazz-rock fusion (sometimes even singing) that sometimes would parallel the blues-psychedelic rock trio Cream (with whose Jack Bruce Coryell would occasionally perform). From the ‘70s on, he would veer back and forth between electric and acoustic guitars, from unaccompanied to band contexts, and from fusion to straight-ahead bebop-oriented jazz.