Chick Corea

[chalkpie]

I didn't find a thread dedicated to Chick's overall works and overall appreciation, so what the hell. Been on a major Chick binge for over a week now and each time I come back to him, I'm usually amazed at how good his albums are and just how diverse/eclectic he is. I have no qualms about placing him alongside the most important jazz musicians/composers of the past 40+ years now - along with the greats such as Miles, Mingus, Monk, etc. I truly feel he changed what jazz could be and his trajectory of various visions has seen him play with the some of the best musicians of our time. As a player himself, he is just ridiculous and I can never get enough of his Rhodes playing!

Anyway, I love the guy and I dig a bunch of his albums, some very much so: Three Quartets, Friends, The Leprechaun, Return to Forever, Now He Sings Now he Sobs, Light as a Feather, Trilogy, The Vigil, ARC, My Spanish Heart, Akoustic Band....the list goes on and on. He is definitely my favorite Scientologist (if there is such a thing).

[Fracktured]

I’ve been on a Chick binge myself lately actually. I was listening last week to his great 70 albums The Leprechaun, The Mad Hatter, Secret Agent and My Spanish Heart. All the ones that you lost are on my favorite list also. Some more are Eye of the Beholder, Inside Out, Touchtone and his Concerto.


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[Zeuhlmate]

My favorite of his solo works is Childrens songs: http://chickcorea.com/discography/childrens-songs/

Besides that its 'Return to Forever' up to and including No Mystery.

Most proggers seems to prefer Romantic Warrior, but I never loved it (actually I find it a bit dull).

[tribalfusion]

Chick is absolutely amazing. I've seen him live so many times through the years in so many different settings. The concerts at the Blue Note a few years ago for his 75th birthday were amazing. He had so many different groups there for the residency including Mike Stern, John McLaughlin, Victor Wooten, Kenny Garrett, Steve Gadd, Frank Gambale, John Patitucci, Marcus Miller, Carles Benavent, Jorge Pardo, Gary Burton, Lenny White and many more.

[rcarlberg]

My Spanish Heart

That's my favorite. So much else of his is... I dunno... "show-offey"?

[pb2015]

Chick's trios are/were great - with Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes, Dave Holland and Barry Altschul, and more recently I've heard good stuff with Christian McBride and Brian Blade.

Late 70's/early 80's he also did some very good quartet albums, Friends (despite the silly Smurfs cover art) and Three Quartets.

Of the fusion records Where Have I Known You Before is my favorite.

[Wah3]

Chick is absolutely amazing. I've seen him live so many times through the years in so many different settings. The concerts at the Blue Note a few years ago for his 75th birthday were amazing. He had so many different groups there for the residency including Mike Stern, John McLaughlin, Victor Wooten, Kenny Garrett, Steve Gadd, Frank Gambale, John Patitucci, Marcus Miller, Carles Benavent, Jorge Pardo, Gary Burton, Lenny White and many more.

Chick also did a 60th birthday residency at the Blue Note. I think it was 2 weeks long, and he released no less than 10 of the concerts on DVD. I have a few of them, wish I had them all as they seem uniformly excellent. They were filmed in hi-def, so what I'd really like to see is a reissue of all 10 on Blu-Ray.

Origin
Piano – Chick Corea
Bass – Avishai Cohen
Drums – Jeff Ballard
Tenor Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – Tim Garland
Alto Saxophone, Clarinet – Steve Wilson
Trombone – Steve Davis

Three Quartets Band
Piano – Chick Corea
Bass – Eddie Gomez
Drums – Steve Gadd
Tenor Saxophone – Michael Brecker

New Trio
Piano – Chick Corea
Bass – Avishai Cohen
Drums – Jeff Ballard

Duet with Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Piano – Chick Corea, Gonzalo Rubalcaba

Akoustic Band
Piano – Chick Corea
Bass – John Patitucci
Drums – Dave Weckl

Duet with Gary Burton
Piano – Chick Corea
Vibraphone – Gary Burton

Duet with Bobby McFerrin
Piano – Chick Corea
Vocals – Bobby McFerrin
Banjo - Béla Fleck

Remembering Bud Powell
Piano – Chick Corea
Bass – Christian McBride
Drums – Roy Haynes
Tenor Saxophone – Joshua Redman
Trumpet – Terence Blanchard

Now He Sings Now He Sobs Trio
Piano - Chick Corea
Bass - Miroslav Vitous
Drums - Roy Haynes

[progmatist]

In addition to the aforementioned, I'm a huge fan of his Elektric Band. As for RTF: I recently acquired Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, and found it more enjoyable Romantic Warrior. The latter is more of an album for rockers than for jazzers.

[chalkpie]

Chick also did a 60th birthday residency at the Blue Note. I think it was 2 weeks long, and he released no less than 10 of the concerts on DVD. I have a few of them, wish I had them all as they seem uniformly excellent. They were filmed in hi-def, so what I'd really like to see is a reissue of all 10 on Blu-Ray.

Origin
Piano – Chick Corea
Bass – Avishai Cohen
Drums – Jeff Ballard
Tenor Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – Tim Garland
Alto Saxophone, Clarinet – Steve Wilson
Trombone – Steve Davis

Three Quartets Band
Piano – Chick Corea
Bass – Eddie Gomez
Drums – Steve Gadd
Tenor Saxophone – Michael Brecker

New Trio
Piano – Chick Corea
Bass – Avishai Cohen
Drums – Jeff Ballard

Duet with Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Piano – Chick Corea, Gonzalo Rubalcaba

Akoustic Band
Piano – Chick Corea
Bass – John Patitucci
Drums – Dave Weckl

Duet with Gary Burton
Piano – Chick Corea
Vibraphone – Gary Burton

Duet with Bobby McFerrin
Piano – Chick Corea
Vocals – Bobby McFerrin
Banjo - Béla Fleck

Remembering Bud Powell
Piano – Chick Corea
Bass – Christian McBride
Drums – Roy Haynes
Tenor Saxophone – Joshua Redman
Trumpet – Terence Blanchard

Now He Sings Now He Sobs Trio
Piano - Chick Corea
Bass - Miroslav Vitous
Drums - Roy Haynes

HOLY crap! I had no idea these existed....thx.

[walt]

I first heard Corea playing Fender Rhoads with Miles on the 1970 Live at Fillmore East album.Knock out city!!!Such a loud, dirty tone he got.Cut right thru ya.I bought most of his early trio records but really haven't checked out his work for many years.

Imagine if he reunited with Anthony Braxton, Dave Holland and Barry Altschul(Circle).

Well, one can dream.

[ytserush]

I appreciate him, but I think I'm more of a fan of his abilities as an arranger, a bandleader, and of course who happens to be in the band than just his playing.

[Dana5140]

There is also a 3-disc set of the highlights of those 10 shows. I've been listening to him since the days of Now He Sings, Now He Sobs. What is that, 50+ years now. And he is still making vital music. Told this before, but I wrote him some years ago and I still have the series of letters he wrote back to me. This was in the days of FUP- Forever Unlimited Productions. Met him after a show he did at Michigan State University. One of my idols for much of my life- so many different settings. The only downer for me is his continued involvement with you know what.

[Grumpyprogfan]

Another fan of The Elektric Band. All their releases are stellar, but "Beneath the Mask" is my fave.

[Progatron]

In addition to the aforementioned, I'm a huge fan of his Elektric Band. As for RTF: I recently acquired Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, and found it more enjoyable Romantic Warrior. The latter is more of an album for rockers than for jazzers.

Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy has always been my favourite RTF album. I also love Chick's Return To Forever, that's an absolutely beautiful album.

[Fracktured]

Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy has always been my favourite RTF album. I also love Chick's Return To Forever, that's an absolutely beautiful album.

Hymn is an absolutely stellar album. I think it’s one of the essential fusion albums


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[chalkpie]

^ Gonna crank Hymn/7th tonight!

[StarThrower]

He had a good string of solo albums from 1976 through the early 80s that I've enjoyed for decades. And I thought the music on the first Elektric Band album was incredibly challenging. I'd say Got A Match could be considered a bona fide jazz classic.

Seeing him live is the best way to experience his endless creativity. The impromptu intros he plays leading into familiar tunes are amazing, and he can solo on and on with endless ideas. The duo with Gary Burton was special, and there are some great live shows on YouTube. One from 1981 comes to mind.

[Udi Koomran]

Yes Frankie
Its very intreating to see how shifted from his experimental atonal beginnings ( Circle ARC etc. ) to jazz- rock- latin style
I love the initial RTF lineup
And then after RTF he had an amazing string of brilliant albums one after the other
The Leprechaun
My Spanish Hear
The Mad Hatter
Secret Agent
Friends
What a run!

[Scrotum Scissor]

I'd say it's [Romantic Warrior] good. But it's also arguably the single most 'sterile' album of "virtuoso intricacy" I've got in my collection*. And in that regard it pales next to Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy. IMHO, of course.







(*) I've got almost 27 records in my collection. That's not nearly enough to make a llbrary system.

I can see from your pic that you're senile.

[Zappathustra]

I truly feel he changed what jazz could be ...

could you elaborate on this? I am not very familiar with the bulk of his work, I always thought of him as a great player but not as a game-changer.

[Dana5140]

Udi, he was not an atonal player at the beginning. Circle and ARC came some time after his initial forays into post-bop. Tones for Joan's Bones and Now He Sings were not in any way atonal records. They were very exciting discs, but they were essentially some hard-driven post-bop recordings. Once Chick had created Circle, he decided that music was simply too difficult for many of hi listeners and he decided that communicating with his listeners was critically important. So that is when he shifted toward a style of musci that was radically different from the atonal stuff- into RTF Mach 1 and then into Electric RTF, etc. Now He Sings was released in 1968; Circle began around 70 into 71.

[Phlakaton]

All his playing with Miles was an adventure. Love his ring-modulated rhodes and all that. So cool.

[Udi Koomran]

Udi, he was not an atonal player at the beginning. Circle and ARC came some time after his initial forays into post-bop. Tones for Joan's Bones and Now He Sings were not in any way atonal records. They were very exciting discs, but they were essentially some hard-driven post-bop recordings. Once Chick had created Circle, he decided that music was simply too difficult for many of hi listeners and he decided that communicating with his listeners was critically important. So that is when he shifted toward a style of musci that was radically different from the atonal stuff- into RTF Mach 1 and then into Electric RTF, etc. Now He Sings was released in 1968; Circle began around 70 into 71.

I stand corrected

[infandous]

I love most of what I've heard from him. I seem to recall that for me, some of his electrik band stuff was spoiled a bit by his sound choices (keys sounds). I always loved him on the Fender Rhodes and he's great on the RTF albums. Brilliant player and writer, for sure.

[StarThrower]

Some slightly lesser known albums w/ Corea:

Amber Skies by David Friesen w/ J Henderson/Paul Motian/Airto/Paul Horn
Live At Montreux 1981 Corea/Joe Henderson/Gary Peacock/Roy Haynes
Joe Henderson - Mirror Mirror
Joe Farrell - Outback
Marion Brown - Afternoon Of A Georgia Faun
Paco De Lucia - Zyryab