Murali Coryell

Thu., Jan. 7, 8:30 p.m., $10, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., 215-928-0770, tinangel.com.

by Mary Armstrong

blues

"People ask me why I'd take a second mortgage on my home just to make a record," says bluesman Murali Coryell. The answer is not the up-tempo title tune on Sugar Lips — look deeper into the heart of the record, to the slow, reflective, "Mother's Day." A deep attachment to his mother and her sudden loss made a change in his life, "I've joined the club, the Lost-A-Parent Club," he says. After that, nothing ever looks the same. Knowing this song was composed in time for her funeral is all the more moving, and yes, getting it recorded, with both his father, Larry Coryell, and himself taking guitar solos in her memory was reason enough to mortgage the house. "The producer told me: No fast runs and fire, take your solo like you are talking to your mother. I cried all through it and when I was finished I looked up and the engineers were crying, too."