Chick Corea: The Musician

CHICK COREA: The Musician
Concord, 2017

MODERN JAZZ – In 2011, Chick Corea celebrated his 70th birthday with a massive, month-long engagement at the Blue Note in NYC, featuring ten bands reflecting the many facets and phases of his legendary career. He often skips the obvious tune selections in this set, but musically it's as dynamic, lyrical, acrobatic, and propulsive as you'd expect. With so much material, it's kind of all over the place but the bar stays pretty high. Note: several tracks end with speeches from stage.

DISC ONE (Fo's picks: 2, 3, 4)

1. 08:15 – uptempo Latin: piano dances with elec guitar, drums drive hard
2. 14:17 – floating midtempo: airy guitar, gentle piano gets fast, bass calms it
3. 09:26 – uptempo swinging trio on standard ballad, it skips merrily along
4. 13:01 – electro-acoustic modal groove: great sax & guitar, hopscotch piano
5. 16:43 – sweet, lyrical, uplifting: solos romp through a sunny musical garden
6. 05:55 – relaxed, playful duet with singer Bobby McFerrin, gets pretty goofy
7. 09:35 – slow & strange with wordless/scat vocal, switches to bright uptempo

DISC TWO (Fo's picks: 1, 4, 5, 6)

1. 07:58 – upbeat chamber jazz: piano/vibes/string quartet, precise & sparkling
2. 04:33 – slow, melancholy strings & expressive, elastic vocal
3. 22:10 – funny intro, then a long, twisty exploration of a light standard tune
4. 10:55 – piano into cool quintet roam thru "Nefertiti," drums push this one
5. 16:38 – driving flamenco-jazz: lyrical solos skate & fly over churning rhythm
6. 09:22 – midtempo flamenco ballad: amazing Spanish fem vocal, strong flute

DISC THREE (Fo's picks: 2, 3, 5, 7)

1. 09:27 – relaxed old-school blues: piano duet + Wynton Marsalis on trumpet
2. 08:30 – quiet, sneaky piano duet on "Caravan" builds steam in the middle
3. 05:01 – upbeat piano duet, abstract yet friendly interweavings
4. 09:10 – quietly expressive piano dialogue into abstract rhythmic exploration
5. 06:38 – relaxed 'n' funky piano duet slides into chunky improvisation
6. 13:40 – uptempo twisty fusion: long piano runs, boppish sax, big drum solo
7. 15:36 – solo keyboard intro, shimmering fusion jam gets red-hot, falls back

[ Fo ] - 30 July 2017

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Return to Forever Unplugged
Stanley Clarke, Bass • Lenny White, drums • Frank Gambale, guitar

Chick Corea Trio
Gary Peacock, bass • Brian Blade, drums

Five Peace Band
John McLauglin, guitar • Kenny Garrett, saxophone • John Patitucci, bass • Brian Blade, drums

From Miles
Wallace Roney, trumpet • Gary Bartz, saxophone • Eddie Gomez, bass • Jack DeJohnette, drums

Flamenco Heart
Concha Buika, vocals • Carles Benavent, bass • Jorge Pardo, saxophone & flute • Niño Josele, guitar • Jeff Ballard, drums

Elektric Band
Dave Weckl, drums • John Patitucci, bass • Eric Marienthal, saxophone • Frank Gambale, guitar