Larry Young

Back when I was in school most of the jazz records from the sixties that I needed to study were out of print. You might be able to find a copy at a used record store or at the library but you usually had to go underground. If you finally did get a copy then you absorbed every note on that record like a thirsty person suckin’ on a damp sponge in the desert.

I think of my introduction to Larry Young as my second "jazz awakening” (the first was Sonny Rollins) and it happened when Michael Kocour, now Director of Jazz Studies at Arizona State University, dubbed me a cassette of Larry’s 1966 Blue Note album Unity. My brain was not prepared for the combined impact of Larry Young, Woody Shaw, Joe Henderson, and Elvin Jones. To this day Unity is one of the only records that I kept on every iPod, iPhone, or iMac that I’ve owned. Thank you Mike!

It’s hard for me to describe Larry’s playing in words. He was deeply funky, rooted in the origins of the mighty Hammond B-3, while also encompassing post-Trane modernism, soul, funk, and even the "avant-garde.” Besides fourteen of his own records he also made some with Grant Green, Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, Carlos Santana, Woody Shaw, Jimi Hendrix, and Miles Davis.

And as far as Larry Young's influence on Snarky Puppy, I can tell you that there have been more than a few S.P. sound checks that began or ended with short renditions of “Backup” or “Tyrone.” Listen to Bobby Sparks, Shaun Martin, or Corey Henry after you’ve spun a few of Larry’s mid-sixties and seventies discs and tell me you don’t hear and feel that Larry’s influence is alive and well. Thank you Mr. Young for making all of those great records and for continuing to inspire generations of searching and soulful players around the world.