More Steppers

December 29, 2000

I found this to be interesting and pass it on. LC is jazz great Larry

Coryell. He is a fantastic guitarist. Larry isn't clear about wether

it was the Buddhist chanting or AA that got him sober--he's not

allowed to talk about the AA secret society;-)

--

AAJ: I had read in the liner notes to Shining Hour that you're a

Buddhist.

LC: I practice Buddhism. I was converted by Wayne Shorter, Buster

and Herbie Hancock in the late seventies or early eighties.

I joined the organization that practices this particular type of

Buddhism in 1984. So I've been practicing for sixteen years.

AAJ: How did you find out about Buddhism? Were you proselytized?

LC: I don't like the word " proselytize. " Wayne, Buster and Herbie

looked at me and thought it might help me to adopt this particular

philosophy and practice this particular form of Buddhism. It involves

primarily chanting. There are a lot of Americans who are Buddhists. I

converted a couple of people this year. It's slow. You have to be

patient. It's best done on a one-on-one basis.

AAJ: The liner notes to Shining Hour mention that you gave up alcohol

and drugs around that same time.

LC: Because of chanting, I was able to see the truth about my life. I

came to see that giving up all forms of mood-altering chemicals was

the only way for me to operate if I wanted to stay alive and if I

ever wanted to evolve as a musician. You live in Ohio. One of the

greatest self-help philosophies started in Akron, Ohio.

AAJ: Which one is that?

LC: You might have heard of it. It's called Alcoholics Anonymous. I

don't want to say anything about AA, though, because we're not

supposed to talk about it.

AAJ: Sheila Jordan had said the same thing.

LC: Sheila's a great gal. Aside from being a great singer, she's a

brilliant documenter of the history of post-swing into bebop jazz.

She married Bird's piano player.

--

For SRV fans, Larry interviews Stevie Ray Vaughan (I think SRV was a

fellow stepper)here:

Jim

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