The Eleventh House

The Eleventh House was an important jazz fusion group of the 1970s led by guitarist Larry Coryell. The band was formed in 1973 and disbanded in 1976. Charter members of the Band beside Larry Coryell were: Randy Brecker trumpet, Mike Mandel keyboards, Danny Trifan bass and Alphonse Mouzon on drums.

The band recorded their first recording entitled Introducing the Eleventh House in 1973, followed by Live In Montreux and Level One in 1974. A bootleg live recording was also released in 1975 entitled Live in Europe.

In 1974, Randy Brecker was replaced by trumpet player Michael Lawrence and Danny Trifan was replaced by bassist John Lee; after drummer Alphonse Mouzon left the band in 1975, drummer Gerry Brown replaced him. Their last incarnation in 1976 saw Japanese trumpeter Tirumasa Hino replace Lawrence in a more horn-driven funk context. The Aspects album along with the Brecker Brothers as guests was the result of this collaboration.

1977 saw Coryell and Mouzon reunite with a more rock guitar oriented fusion band. Billed as the Coryell/Mouzon Band it also featured John Lee on bass and Philip Catherine on second guitar. They released one notable album entitled Back Together Again on Atlantic records. They later performed in various Rock or Jazz capacities with alternating members including bassist Miroslav Vitous until finally disbanding.

Eleventh House members Larry Coryell, Alphonse Mouzon, Mike Mandel and John Lee recorded a rather commercial recording in 1984 called "The Eleventh House", although the music was nothing like the 70s Jazz-Rock. In 1998 The Eleventh House reunited and toured all over the world until the end of 1999. In 1998 The Eleventh House Reunion Band consisted of Larry Coryell on guitar, Randy Brecker on trumpet, Richard Bona or Jeff Berlin on bass and Alphonse Mouzon on drums. In 1999 original member John Lee joined the band on some occasions as did Coryell's son, Julian Coryell, on second guitar and either trumpeter Shunzo Ohno or Donald Harrison on saxophone replaced Randy Brecker.

The Eleventh House, alongside bands like The Mahavishnu Orchestra or Return to Forever, is widely considered as one of the pioneering Jazz-Rock bands of the mid-1970s. While the music of The Eleventh House was more funk oriented than the music of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, it was rawer and less conceptionally oriented than the music of Chick Corea's Return to Forever band.