“My inspiration for this tune was Flight of the Bumblebee, but through a funky lens, as if Tower of Power had written and recorded the melody”: Cory Wong on how to arrange guitar and keyboards

Cory Wong wears shades and performs with his blue Strat live in Italy, 2025, and is lit from behind by a white stage light.

Direct Flyte is a track from my 2022 album, Power Station, and features the great Victor Wooten on bass. The song has morphed a little bit in subsequent live performances, as we’ve tightened up the arrangement and gotten very specific about the individual parts.

What I’d like to talk about today is how the syncopations of the tune’s primary guitar part work in conjunction with the chordal accents supplied by the keyboard, which I think is a good example of effective ensemble arranging.