Chick Corea, the pioneer keyboardist and band leader who died on Tuesday at the age of 79, will forever be considered a crucial architect of the jazz-rock fusion.
It is an appropriate one-line tribute. Whether alone, leading the collective Return to Forever or accompanying giants like Miles Davis (on landmark albums like “In a Silent Way” and “Bitches Brew”), Corea helped enrich the lexicon of jazz – mixing his harmonic language with weight ( and amplification) of rock and funk. But no description, even a broad one, can encompass such an unlimited view.
“After all, formal styles are just an afterthought – a consequence of the creative impulse,” Corea told The New York Times in 1983. “Nobody sits down and decides to write specifically in a predetermined style. A style is not something you learn, but something you synthesize. Musicians do not care whether a particular composition is jazz, pop or classical music. All that matters is whether it is good music – whether it is challenging and exciting. “
For more than five decades, Corea modified its sound to follow this simple maxim – chasing the whims of bebop to free jazz, from fusion to contemporary classic. He recorded about 90 albums as a band leader or co-leader. And he has always prioritized melody and musicality over empty-calorie showmanship (although few could rival his raw skill at Fender Rhodes).
Here are 12 of his elite studio and live performances.
Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (1970)
Corea and Joe Zawinul form a wall of Rhodes in this sneaky and funky cut of Miles Davis’s “Bitches Brew”, punctuated by John McLaughlin’s ice pick guitars and Davis’s sighing trumpet. The rhythm section is so dense that it is difficult to taste everything: two electric basses (Dave Holland and Harvey Brooks), two drums (Don Alias and Jack DeJohnette) and the congas by Juma Santos. Glad it lasts 14 minutes. Keyboard players change from question marks to exclamation marks – one moment poking at the groove, the next soloing in colorful explosions of noise. “Trust yourself,” said Corea in 2020, was Davis’s philosophy. “When he says, ‘Play what you don’t hear’, he means, trust your imagination. Trust yourself to say, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do next, but I’m going to do it because it’s fun. Because I love it. ‘”
‘Chris’ (1970)
Corea spreads the electric piano throughout this nine-minute monster of “Spaces” by guitarist Larry Coryell, a pillar of the initial fusion. The arrangement seems to oscillate between structure and improvisation, straight groove and cosmic freedom. Formation is the definition of a supergroup: Corea and Coryell, plus John McLaughlin on guitar, Miroslav Vitouš (later Weather Report) on bass and Billy Cobham on drums.
The rare fusion melody with a jazzy life span, “Spain” remains the characteristic composition of Corea – played by artists as different as Stevie Wonder and Béla Fleck. The original, from “Light as a Feather” by Return to Forever, is untouchable: for almost 10 minutes, the keyboardist’s hands do a cheerful pirouette for Rhodes, his meliflous melodies combined with Flora Purim’s quiet murmur and the vibrant flute of Joe Farrell. The chorus, with its cut keyboard phrases and enthusiastic claps, ranks alongside the main theme “Birdland” of the Weather Report as one of the most captivating moments in the history of the merger.
‘Space Circus, Part I’ / ‘Space Circus, Part II’ (1973)
In its infancy, Return to Forever already rivaled the intensity of most 70s rock bands. But it sounded positively massive on its third album, adding two new recruits (powerful drummer Lenny White and guitarist Bill Connors) and leaving Stanley Clarke switch to the electric bass. The group showed its full dynamic range in this double part of Return to Forever, “Anthem of the Seventh Galaxy”, opening with the dreamy theme Rhodes de Corea before breaking into a tightly closed funk. Connors’ violent guitar and Clarke’s distorted bass enter psychological rock territory – but even when the keyboardist relaxes a little, his constant chords remain the heartbeat of the ensemble.
‘Song to John (Part I)’ / ‘Song to John (Part II)’ (1975)
Corea’s acoustic piano enters sumptuous New Age territory in the first half of these tracks from Stanley Clarke’s “Journey to Love”, exchanging fanfare with Clarke’s curved bass and John McLaughlin’s guitar. The group hits an intense Latin rhythm in the second half, with McLaughlin and Corea launching fireworks. In the booklet, Clarke dedicated the two-part piece to John Coltrane – and she lives up to the billing.
‘Sorceress’ (1976)
Return to Forever’s definitive lineup – Corea, Clarke, White and guitarist Al Di Meola – fragmented after the 1976 album “Romantic Warrior”. But, as this funky odyssey proves, they came close to the peak. White is credited as a songwriter here, and his restless drum groove certainly keeps the engine running. But “Sorceress” also finds Corea in perhaps its most versatile form in terms of keyboard – weaving on atmospheric pads, wavy synthesizers and Latin themes on acoustic piano.
‘Spanish Fantasy’ (1976)
Corea has always been influenced by Latin music, explaining “that flavor, I think, is mainly in everything I do”, for Billboard in 2019. “It’s a part of me. I don’t know how to differentiate it. ”But he never dived deeper than on his tenth solo LP,“ My Spanish Heart ”. The record peaks with this four-part whiplash suite, which extends from elegant strings of strings and metals to interludes of acoustic piano and the tastiest jazz-rock rave-ups on this side of “Aja” by Steely Dan.
‘Short Tales of the Black Forest’ (1976)
Composed by Corea for the debut solo album by his Forever bandmate Di Meola, “Land of the Midnight Sun”, this mini-epic makes good use of his virtuous flash – the two musicians look like they can get away from their instruments for heaven. But there are many graceful melodies compressed in those five and a half minutes. Halfway through, Corea slides into a smooth chord build as Di Meola moves up and down the scales. Corea even manages to show off her marimba skills, adding extra drama to a crowning flourish.
‘Homecoming’ (1979)
Corea and Herbie Hancock, two of the elite fusion keyboardists, embarked on an acoustic duo tour in 1978, and the two, both veterans of Miles Davis’ bands, identified themselves surprisingly in the two live LPs that emerged on those dates. A highlight is a 19-minute version of “Homecoming” from “CoreaHancock,” skillfully merging your instruments into one organism. They move from beauty to ugliness on a dime – halfway through, the piece turns into a section of guttural grunts, percussive beats and prepared piano madness.
‘Rumble’ (1986)
Like most of the fusion giants that survived until the mid-1980s, Corea embraced the colors and contours of the time, forming his Elektric Band with drummer Dave Weckl, bassist John Patitucci and alternative guitarists Scott Henderson and Carlos Rios. The rhythm section is performed free of charge in this neon-coated number of “The Chick Corea Elektric Band”, defined by its tortuous and Zappa-like rhythms and the comically brilliant synthesizers from Corea.
‘Spain (live)’ (1992)
Corea has extended “Spain” like caramel over the decades, maintaining his interest in reworking it for various band settings and configurations. (“Around 1976, I started to get tired of music,” he told The Atlantic in 2011. “I started playing really perverted versions of it – I just referred to it for a second, so I went off on improv. ”) One of his most impressive interpretations in recent days is this live acoustic duet from“ Play ”with vocalist Bobby McFerrin, which gives a new life to the piece with its divine falsetto, booming bass lines and body percussion. Despite all the sublime technique, the biggest revelation is to hear these two giants lock in perfect symmetry in the main theme.
‘Crystal Silence’ (2008)
Corea met again with vibraphonist Gary Burton for the Grammy-winning live LP, “The New Crystal Silence”, built largely with reworked pieces from the Corea catalog. The pair collaborated intermittently for decades, and the music here seems appropriately natural and lived – even fully developed Zen, as in the expanded version of “Crystal Silence”. Captured in clear studio-level fidelity, Corea and Burton exchange counterpoint phrases and patterns, with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra completing that lively conversation.