Cory Wong Interview & Masterclass

Cory was first exposed to music by his father who would constantly play records around the house. Although not a musician himself, he was what his son described as being “a total music freak… a music head”. So Cory’s formative years were played out against a soundtrack provided by players like Hendrix, Joe Pass, Pat Metheny and Ralph Towner. “My dad had all this ECM catalogue and CTI jazz catalogue, the Blue Note catalogue and then he had all this classic rock catalogue,” he tells us, having travelled over to GT HQ on a rain-soaked day following his sold-out gig in Bristol.

A great deal of the music he had heard courtesy of his dad was guitar-driven and the young Cory was “interested in the sound, interested in what it did to me emotionally, how music made me feel”. He became curious about rhythm playing and, through the intense metronome-based practice routine that he outlines for us in the video that accompanies this feature, gained the ability to lock in with a rhythm section with scary precision. As well as playing with The Fearless Flyers and Vulfpeck, Cory has produced a series of solo albums, the latest of which bears the title Elevator Music For An Elevated Mood. A much in-demand, busy musician, with a relentless touring schedule, Cory might also have been