Originally posted in The Washington Post Company
Saturday, March 29, 2008;
Page C08

Guitarist Larry Coryell will celebrate his 65th birthday a few days early tomorrow night at Blues Alley -- cake, candles and all. Fittingly, he opened his Power Trio's engagement at the Georgetown club on Thursday with a performance inspired by some of his early compositions and influences.
For starters, there was "Good Citizen Swallow," a piece that Coryell wrote in the '60s. Fresh, spirited and played with deceptive ease, the arrangement was marked by the guitarist's spiky intervals, 16th-note flurries, octave runs and funk accents, as well as by bassist Mark Egan's sleek, vibrato-capped lines and drummer Paul Wertico's snapping syncopations.
Coryell later paid tribute to Thelonious Monk with two performances, including a rendition of "Trinkle Tinkle" that combined the composer's signature traits (jarring dissonances, stuttering cadences) with subtle guitar-bass interplay and Wertico's fluid swing. A Wes Montgomery salute found Coryell playing a thoroughly evocative, thumb-powered, octave-laced rendition of "Bumpin' on Sunset."
Coryell put down his arch-top guitar long enough to perform an unplugged solo version of "Our Love Is Here to Stay," a lyrical interpretation bracketed by sparkling, finger-tapped harmonics.
The Power Trio performances, which included Egan's insinuating ballad "Tricycles," were actually more notable for their finesse than force, with Coryell occasionally assuming the role of a pianist, sparsely outlining the harmonies while Egan soloed on his five-string bass. Punctuating the opening set was a brief blues interlude featuring singer Tracey Coryell (the guitarist's wife), who managed to make "Gimme One Reason" sound both sultry and defiant.
-- Mike Joyce