Chick Corea's Legacy

[7/4]

Let's see how you feel in 10 or 20 years.

About what? His playing, or his albums?

Huh? What?

Has Chuck hijacked your account?

This isn't the first time my posts have been compared to CNs.

[Teasing the Korean]

Love his playing on Cal Tjader's "Soul Burst" album. Haven't heard much more by him that's really resonated with me.

[Jazz Kat]

Let's see how you feel in 10 or 20 years.

About what? His playing, or his albums?

Huh? What?

Has Chuck hijacked your account?

This isn't the first time my posts have been compared to CNs.

Let's see how you feel in 10 to 20 years.

[B. Clugston]

I think Chick's work with Miles Davis is outstanding. He's a clever pianist, full of ideas, though his career has been all over the map. I prefer his more aggressive days with Miles and Circle, but also like the later stuff with Gary Burton. Haven't heard much of his later stuff--whenever there's a whiff of L. Ron, I flee.

[GregK]

I like the Origin box set. Good acoustic jazz.

[7/4]

Let's see how you feel in 10 to 20 years.

I'll be older and maybe dead, but I don't think my opinion on Chick is going to change.

• the Miles years - great, maybe even amazing
  
• Circle - amazing
  
• RTF - uh oh...
  
• Scientology - the point of no return, except for the ECM trios with Roy Haynes and Miroslav Vitous.
  

Edited June 14, 2007 by 7/4

[sheldonm]

Not a huge fan, but "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs" is one of my favorite piano trio recordings. Its rare to hear a group of musicians not only so inspired, but working on such a high level of interactivity.

I would say this is maybe one of two Corea recordings I have. I like this one a lot but don't have much to compare it to. I'll see Chick this weekend at an outdoor festival and will post thoughts and photos later.

m~

[CJ Shearn]

well I really like "Three Quartets" and "Live at Montreux". I think I will be getting the Elektric Band's "Live at Montreux 2004" DVD b/c I think a live show on DVD from them would be better than some of those albums I would imagine.

[Kari S]

1. NOW HE SINGS NOW HE SOBS

2. CRYSTAL SILENCE

3. ECM-RETURN TO FOREVER

4. LIGHT AS A FEATHER

6. MAD HATTER (check out those arrangements!!)

7. the 1st ELEKTRIC BAND cd ("King Cockroach"!)

8. CHANGE by Origin

...plus an unmistakenly original voice as a pianist / jazz instrumentalist / soloist. Two notes, and you know who it is. Plus, he is not as widely emulated (I don't think) as his contemporaries, Herbie, McCoy.

[Guest donald petersen]

i'm listening to the song of singing right now and liking it more than i used to.

for some reason the whole thing is congealing more than it used to.

i'm not sure it's a keeper for me but i am seeing the merits.

have to be in the right mood...

barry altschul is unfairly not placed with the greats...i am not sure why paul motian is more appreciated.

[AndrewHill]

barry altschul is unfairly not placed with the greats...i am not sure why paul motian is more appreciated.

I'm with you there. Altschul is a very underrated drummer. I think he's frickin' amazing on Braxton's Dortmund 1976. Other favorites where he appears are Bley's Ramblin' and Early Circle (under Corea's Name).

[David]

I really like his duo album with Gary Burton (orange-ish cover). Amazing version of No Mystery on that one.

[Rooster_Ties]

History will not forget...

Elektric City

Side-observation: Video on a Mac Plus was apparently better than I remember it being.

[EyeSpeech]

Haha...that is so '80s.

Yes, there were a few mentions of Tones for Joan's Bones in the thread, but even more than that I like Inner Space and the "Is" sessions. Those can be seen as compilations that Cuscuna willed into existence--for Atlantic and Blue Note, respectively. There isn't any other Chick that I play anymore.

Edited February 26, 2011 by EyeSpeech

[Ed S]

With the exception of the Complete "IS" sessions, I had not listened to Corea's music for at least 20 years.

I was in high school in 73 or 74 when I first heard Return to Forever - and I have to say, I was blown away. Rather than compare and differentiate between the big fusion groups of the day - I tried to enjoy all of them as unique entities. I found that I got to enjoy a lot more music that way.

My jazz explorations led me to broaden my horizons and move in other directions - but I'd have to say that I probably listened to most of the electric stuff Corea put out until the first few Electric Band albums. Around that time, I became a lot more aware of Scientology and remembered seeing all those thanks to L. Ron Hubbard on Corea's records. Based on what I knew/read/heard about Scientology and how they operate - I ended up losing all respect for Chick and lost interest in his music. I just never reached for his stuff any more.

Fast forward to 2011. I heard about RTF appearing in Buffalo and mentioned it to my brother. He convinced me to go see them. In the past month - I've seen RTF twice. Once in my home town of Buffalo with my brother and then again with my boys while I was on a road trip that took us to St Louis on a day when RTF was in town. Both shows were fabulous. In Buffalo, the RTF concert is being hailed as "The Music Event of the Year". The whole experience has made me rethink my attitude toward Chick. Was I wrong or right to see him in a negative light due to his association with Scientology? I'm still not sure.

I will say that I've started to play some of the stuff I have in my collection and have also picked up some more recent things. I've enjoyed what I have heard. Certainly some of the older stuff from the post RTF days does not hold up all that well - though there are some good moments. I've always been a big fusion guy, so please don't tell me that his fusion stuff doesn't cut it either. I've enjoyed RTF Returns, the acoustic RTF - Forever, the week long live Origin recordings. Just today, I've mined Half.com for some real deals on some post 90's releases and some of the 80s stuff I never picked up like Trio Music, Touchstone, Three Quartets - and am looking forward to hearing them.

I don't know what Chick's legacy is or will be, but I have to say that that I'm enjoying my re-exposure to his music all these years later.

[tranemonk]

I love Chick. I don't really like fusion but I caught RTF when they were in Boston a few weeks ago. Chick is really the only cat I would go see play fusion stuff. I don't worry about the Scientology stuff. To me it falls in the bag of stuff like when Miles used to beat Cicely Tyson... If you read Straight Life you'll find out that Art Pepper did some messed up things!... Obviously from what I understand Scientology is not domestic violence or other bad behaviors... but it's not my thing. I know some people have problems with it. In general I've tried to separate out the musician from their personal beliefs/practices/etc/ Otherwise there would be a number of musicians I'd never listen to...

I've seen Chick probably half a dozen times and he never mentions it onstage. I suspect he's aware of the public reaction.

IMHO the best Chick I have is the Five Trios Japanese boxed set that was available on his website a few years ago... Absolutely fabulous!!!

This one is also great.... http://www.chickcorea.com/cart/products/Super_Trio_Corea_Gadd_McBride_br_Chick_Corea_Steve_Gadd_and_Christian_McBride_br_2006-40-26.html

[jazzbo]

I like the free jazziest and most acoustically jazzy Chick. The two solo albums on ECM are favorites. I really like the Circle material and the "IS" material. Material with Flora and Airto. And Origins. And he was simply bubbling with energy and ideas with Miles.

Going to play some Chick today.

Edited September 5, 2011 by jazzbo

[Ed S]

I like the free jazziest and most acoustically jazzy Chick. The two solo albums on ECM are favorites. I really like the Circle material and the "IS" material. Material with Flora and Airto. And Origins. And he was simply bubbling with energy and ideas with Miles.

Going to play some Chick today.

I've been playing a lot of Chick today. Trio Music Live, The IS Sessions, Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, and now The Song Of Singing. I'm glad to have rediscovered this guy.

[JETman]

Still a creative force at the age of 70. Easily one of my top 5 pianists in any genre.

Who cares about Scientology? It's not like he's a member of the KKK!!!

[jazzbo]

Well, in a way I care about Scientology, I saw it take over the life of one of my best friends in the 'eighties, but he's managed to climb up the ladder in the "church" since then and seems happy, what can I say. It's such SciFi BS though.

[JETman]

Well, in a way I care about Scientology, I saw it take over the life of one of my best friends in the 'eighties, but he's managed to climb up the ladder in the "church" since then and seems happy, what can I say. It's such SciFi BS though.

Yes, it's a cult. If people make themslves vulnerable to such things, they are bound to be taken over by such things. I've met Chick --- he's seems very nice, and grounded. His beliefs are HIS beliefs. And mine are mine. The extent of my interest in his life is the music he produces. Based on that, I consider the man brilliant.

Sorry to hear that you witnessed such a bad experience in your friend's life.

[JSngry]

[Hot Ptah]

He hasn't looked like that for a long, long time!

To me, Corea is one of those artists with such a massive, and extremely varied, recorded output, that you can probably find some albums by him that you will value and like. To me, he is one of the most inconsistent recorded artists in jazz history, but I like the albums I consider his high points. I think that his solo piano albums are fine, his duets with Gary Burton are enjoyable, his piano trio albums are often inspired, and his small acoustic jazz combo work has at times been stellar.

To me, he has shown a lack of taste at times. Some of his albums with vocals, large ensembles, and/or complex compositions just don't work at all for me. Some of his jazz/rock fusion stuff is O.K., but some of it is just noisy and obnoxious, to me.

[mikeweil]

I do not sympathize with Scientology, but think it served Chick well to stabilize himself at a certain point in his career, when he was hitting the New York scene with its tough competition of modern piano/keyboard conceptions: Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, and Keith Jarrett were the other keyboarders drifting in and out of Miles band at the time, setting the pace in modern jazz and fusion. He followed quite a remarkable path from sidemen gigs with Mongo Santamaria, Herbie Mann and the like (with his background the Latin jazz scene was a perfect starting point, then on to Miles and Stan Getz, which led to the first Return To Forever with Flora and Airto.

I hear quite a bit of his pianistic conceptions in players of the generations after him, and his Spanish tinged compositions are more popular than anything Hancock or the others wrote.

I think he didn't dvelop any further after he started the fusion Return To Forever, but who really did (at least in the sense of creating something entirely new)?

The stuff I like best in his career is the trio with Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes (early on and later), and the latin tinged stuff with Herbie Mann and Hubert Laws.

I think it is very interesting that many of his musical buddies that I respect and like a lot - like Lenny White, Herbie Hancock - don't seem to have the slightest problem with his association with Scientology. I wonder what they think about it ...

[Hot Ptah]

I think it is very interesting that many of his musical buddies that I respect and like a lot - like Lenny White, Herbie Hancock - don't seem to have the slightest problem with his association with Scientology. I wonder what they think about it ...

I remember a Down Beat interview in the 1970s in which Stanley Clarke, Lenny White and Corea all discussed how they found that Scientology helped them work together as a band. I have not read the article for many years, but I remember that I did not know anything about Scientology when I first read it, and that the musicians made it sound like a how-to manual for problem solving. I do not know if Clarke and White stayed with Scientology.