Jazz Articles about Chick Corea

Chick Corea Elektric Band: To The Stars

by Mark Sabbatini
August 21, 2004

Normally it's nice to hear progression in an artist's work, but in this case an exception is warranted.

Pianist Chick Corea returns to some of his better days with his Elektric Band of the late 1980s and early 1990s on To The Stars , a reunion with the original five members of the group. They pick up pretty much where they left off, even though some of the players have progressed well beyond the familiar roles they return ...

Chick Corea: The Complete "IS" Sessions

by Aaron Rogers
June 19, 2004

Although the recording of Chick Corea's The Complete “IS" Sessions took place in May of 1969, the rhythm section, which consists of bassist Dave Holland, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and legendary Latin/hard-bop/fusion pianist Chick Corea, found its footing seven months earlier in the electric tone poems of the In A Silent Way sessions under Miles Davis's leadership. The Complete “IS" Sessions, a two-disc set reissued on Blue Note's Connoisseur Series, is a musical example of the exploratory sound of ...

Chick Corea: Rendezvous in New York

by Steven Robinson
June 25, 2003

If there was one place in the jazz world to be in December 2001, it was at the Blue Note in New York, where in a three-week long celebration of his 60th birthday, pianist Chick Corea performed in multiple configurations with vocalist extraordinaire Bobby McFerrin, vibraphone legend Gary Burton, drummer Roy Haynes and many other world-class musicians. The extraordinary music that resulted was recorded on some 60 hours of tape, from which Mr. Corea chose 12 performances now released as ...

Chick Corea's Spirit of Creativity

by R.J. DeLuke
March 28, 2003

Turbulent times, these are. Times of bloodshed and fear that touch not only far-off lands, but the heart of the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, from Maine to El Paso, and from Miami to Seattle. People's minds are cluttered by apprehension and concern. In such an atmosphere, it must be hard for artists to create and express the spirit of creativity when spirit seems deserted.“It's harder and harder" to create art, reflected Chick ...

Chick Corea: The Complete "Is" Sessions

by Robert Gilbert
January 21, 2003

Where is the dividing line between freedom and chaos in music? A jazz band can largely ignore chords, harmony and a consistent time signature and yet still produce something that’s a coherent and thrilling listen. Another jazz band, by comparison, can take the same approach and play something that’s incoherent and torture to experience.

During three days in May 1969, pianist Chick Corea led a band that managed to achieve both results. In 2002, Blue Note Records collected ...

Miles Davis: The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions

by Michael Fortuna
December 1, 2001

Miles Davis was an innovator from the moment he first picked up the trumpet. But for years, the public didn't have a clear enough picture of Davis' journey from jazz into the rock/funk sounds of James Brown and Jimi Hendrix as well as his use of electric instruments.At the time, all the public knew of was the funk groove and electric piano sounds of “Stuff" from Miles in the Sky, followed by more electric sounds on Filles de ...

Miles Davis: The Complete In A Silent Way Sessions

by Jim Santella
August 1, 2001

Three previously unissued performances and six months of Miles Davis' recording activity mark this 3-CD set as something special. This was a transitional time for the bandleader. It marked the beginning of a fusion. The package documents this period very well. Davis wanted a new sound. With several keyboards and significant changes in personnel, he got it. The trumpeter introduced his musical changes gradually. The more radical shift would come later. These sessions are pleasant and full of intrigue. In ...