JIM MORET, CNN CO-HOST: You'd think one of the sons of a famous jazz guitarist might follow in his father's footsteps. You'd be a little surprised, perhaps, in the case of Murali Coryell. The 28-year-old musician is a talented player, all right, but all that jazz is not where he's at.

Mark Scheerer reports.

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MARK SCHEERER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rainy night in New York, a blues club, a little blue-eyed soul from 28-year-old Murali Coryell. It sounds like he could have been on the legendary Memphis-based Stax-Volt label, but it's a Coryell composition.

MURALI CORYELL, MUSICIAN: Yeah, I'm a huge fan of that stuff -- Johnny Taylor, all the people from Stax-Volt. Memphis is like my favorite musical city, I would have to say.

SCHEERER: Murali's father is one of the pioneers of jazz-rock fusion, Larry Coryell, who's seen in this instructional video with another son, Julian. It was not easy for Murali to grow up in the shadow of his famous father.

CORYELL: I kind of shied away from it 'cause of the pressure of living up to my dad and...

SCHEERER (on camera): And your brother.

CORYELL: ... and my brother, who has perfect pitch, child prodigy, all this stuff. And then I had to find my own niche.

SCHEERER: I would imagine, given your bloodlines, people assume, number one, you play only jazz, and that you don't sing, but that's wrong.

CORYELL: That's wrong. One thing that set me apart and also, you know, that most people notice first, is the voice. That's the first thing that most people hear. And, you know, I've seen how difficult it is being a jazz musician, even the best -- my dad is one of the greatest -- and it's hard, man.

SCHEERER: Practically speaking, though, how successful can you be working in this classic R&B/soul vein?

CORYELL: Of course, I would love to be a huge pop star or whatever, just very well known and have everybody know my music, but if I can't do it on a big scale, I'll just take it to the clubs. I know for the rest of my life I could take it to the clubs like I've been doing and, you know, just get it out that way.

SCHEERER (voice-over): Murali is looking to leave a Coryell legacy of his own.