Chick Corea: Sardinia

Coming amid a flurry of Chick Corea titles set for release in 2023—Candid Records' 10-LP set, Chick Corea Electric Band: The Complete Studio Recordings 1986-1991; the previously unreleased, Corea curated, 2-CD live Electric Band The Future Is Now and ECM's re-release of the pianist's first session for the label as a leader with Dave Holland and Barry Altschul, A.R.C. (1971)—it could be easy to overlook the exquisite music heard on Sardinia.

But let's not. For there is something uniquely festive, uniquely Corea afoot. Much of it recorded live with Orchestra da Camera Della Sardegna in Mogoro, Sardinia, on November 29, 2018, as a special guest artist for the 11th Annual Cultural Festival, this beautiful, stand-alone concert brings Corea's depth as a performer and interpreter into sharp, shining focus. In collaboration with conductor Simone Pittau (founder of both the Culture Festival and the Orchestra) Corea exhibits a deep understanding and reverence for music both as old and new as the moment itself.

It's no secret Corea had a playful, almost impish sense of humor when it came to creation, and create he does with all the humor and passion he's deservedly noted for on. Taking on Beethoven and Brahm's favorite minor-key concerto by Mozart ("Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491") and George Gershwin's epic "Rhapsody In Blue" in one performance is no small feat. And Corea, as always, is up for challenge. He positively romps on the rhapsody with a youthful verve that belies his years.

Fanciful yet faithful, pianist and orchestra relish toying with the many structural inventions within Mozart's concerto. Trading themes and exposition, the "Allegro" casts wide and soars higher. Corea effortlessly proves Einstein's theory that the "Larghetto" section "moved in regions of the purest and most moving tranquility, and has a transcendent simplicity of expression." Check that Albert. Playing upon a series of thematic variations, the "Allegretto" features Corea enthralled, leading the orchestra to its powerful, memorable close. Add a wistful "Someone To Watch Over Me" and Sardinia stands as another triumph in a life full of them.