Everything about Chick Corea totally explained
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (born
June 12,
1941) is a multiple
Grammy Award winning
American jazz pianist/
keyboardist and composer.
He is known for his work during the 1970s in the genre of
jazz fusion. He participated in the birth of the electric fusion movement as a member of
Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, and in the 1970s formed
Return to Forever.
He continued to pursue other collaborations and explore various musical styles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He is also known for promoting
Scientology.
Life and career
Youth
Corea was born in
Chelsea, Massachusetts. He is of
Italian and
Spanish descent. His father Armando, a jazz
trumpet player who had led a
Dixieland band in the
Boston area in the 1930s and 1940s, introduced him to the piano at the age of four. Growing up surrounded by jazz music, he was influenced at an early age by
bebop stars such as
Dizzy Gillespie,
Charlie Parker,
Bud Powell,
Horace Silver and
Lester Young. At eight Corea also took up
drums, which would later influence his use of the piano as a percussion instrument. His Boston area heritage can be heard in his introduction of "Nefertiti" on
Circle - Paris Concert as a
Wayne Shorter composition.
Corea developed his piano skills by exploring music on his own. A notable influence was concert pianist Salvatore Sullo from whom Corea started taking lectures at age eight, who introduced him to
classical music, helping spark his interest in
musical composition. He also spent several years as a performer and soloist for The Knights of St. Rose, a Drum & Bugle Corp based in Chelsea.
Given a black
tuxedo by his father, he started doing gigs when in high school. He enjoyed listening to
Herb Pomeroy's band at the time, and had a trio which would play
Horace Silver's music at a local jazz club. He collaborated with
Portuguese bandleader and trumpet player
Phil Barboza, and with
conga drummer
Bill Fitch who introduced him to
Latin music:
I liked the "extraversion" of Latin music, especially the dance and salsa style music - bands like Tito Puente's band and Machito's band. The Cuban dance music was a great kind of antidote to some of the more serious, heady jazz that I was into. I liked the "outgoingness" and exuberance of the music. I just stayed interested in all kinds of Latin music. Then I discovered Spanish Latin music, which is flamenco.
He eventually decided to move to
New York where he took up musical education for one month at
Columbia University and six months at
The Juilliard School (among his Juilliard teachers was
Peter Schickele, who described Chick as "the most awake student [he] ever taught"). He quit after finding both disappointing, but liked the atmosphere of New York where the musical scene became the starting point for his professional career.
Early career
Corea started his professional career in the
'60s playing with
trumpeter
Blue Mitchell and
Latin greats such as
Herbie Mann,
Willie Bobo and
Mongo Santamaria. One of the earliest recordings of his playing is with Blue Mitchell's quintet on
The Thing To Do. This album features his composition "Chick's Tune", a clever retooling of "You Stepped Out of a Dream" that demonstrates the angular melodies and Latin-and-swing rhythms that characterize, in part, Corea's personal style. (Incidentally, the same tune features a drum solo by a very young
Al Foster.)
His first album as a leader was
Tones For Joan's Bones in 1966, two years before the release of his album
Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, with
Roy Haynes on
drums, and
Miroslav Vitouš on
bass.
He made another sideman appearance with
Stan Getz on 1967's
Sweet Rain (
Verve Records).
Avant garde period
From 1968 to 1971 Chick Corea had associations with
avant garde players; and his solo style revealed a dissonant, avant garde orientation. His avant garde playing can be heard on his solo works of the period, his solos in live recordings under the leadership of
Miles Davis, his recordings with
Circle, and his playing on
Joe Farrell, "Song of the Wind", on the
CTI label.
In
September 1968, Corea replaced
Herbie Hancock in the piano chair in Davis' band and appeared on landmark albums such as
Filles de Kilimanjaro,
In a Silent Way and
Bitches Brew. In concert, Davis'
rhythm section of Corea,
Dave Holland and
Jack DeJohnette combined elements of
free jazz improvisation and
rock music. With the Davis band, Corea experimented using electric instruments, mainly the
Fender Rhodes electric piano.
In live performance he often used
ring modulation of the electric piano, producing overtones reminiscent of
Karlheinz Stockhausen. Using this style, he appeared on multiple Davis albums, including and
. His live performances with the Miles Davis band continued into 1970.
Holland and Corea left to form their own group,
Circle, active between 1970-1971. This
free jazz group featured multi-reed player
Anthony Braxton, bassist
Dave Holland and drummer
Barry Altschul. This band was documented on
Blue Note and
ECM. Aside from soloing in an atonal style, Corea sometimes reached in the body of the piano and plucked the strings. In 1971 or 1972, Corea struck out on his own.
"The concept of communication with an audience became a big thing for me at the time. The reason I was using that concept so much at that point in my life –in 1968, 1969 or so- was because it was a discovery for me. I grew up kind of only thinking how much fun it was to tinkle on the piano and not noticing that what I did had an effect on others. I didn't even think about a relationship to an audience, really, until way later."
Jazz fusion
In the early 1970s, Corea took a profound stylistic turn from avant garde playing to a crossover
jazz fusion style that incorporated Latin jazz elements. In 1971, he founded
Return to Forever. This band had a fusion sound, that while relying on electronic instrumentation, drew more on
Brazilian and
Spanish-American musical styles than on rock music. On its first two records, Return to Forever featured
Flora Purim's vocals, the
Fender Rhodes electric piano, and
Joe Farrell's
flute and
soprano saxophone.
Airto Moreira played drums. Corea's compositions for this group often had a Brazilian tinge. In 1972, Corea played many of the early Return to Forever songs in a group he put together for Stan Getz; this group, with
Stanley Clarke on bass and
Tony Williams on drums, recorded the
Columbia label album
Captain Marvel under Getz's name.
In the next year, the band moved more in the direction of rock music influenced by the
Mahavishnu Orchestra. Only Clarke remained from the group's first lineup;
Bill Connors played electric guitar and
Lenny White played drums. No one replaced vocalist Purim. (Briefly, in 1977, Corea's wife,
Gayle Moran, served as vocalist in the band.) In 1974
Al Di Meola joined the band, replacing Connors. In this second version of Return to Forever, Corea extended the use of
synthesizers, particularly
Moogs. The group released its final studio record in 1977. Thereafter, Corea focused on solo projects.
Corea's composition "
Spain" first appeared on the 1972 Return to Forever album
Light as a Feather. This is probably his most popular piece, and it has been recorded by a variety of artists (notably
Al Jarreau). There are also a variety of subsequent recordings by Corea himself in various contexts, including an arrangement for piano and symphony orchestra that appeared in 1999. Corea usually performs "Spain" with a prelude based on
Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez (1940), which earlier received a jazz orchestration on Miles Davis' and
Gil Evans' "
Sketches of Spain".
In 1976 he issued
My Spanish Heart, influenced by
Latin American music and featuring vocalist Moran and electronic violinist
Jean-Luc Ponty.
Duet collaboration with Gary Burton
In the 1970s, Corea started working occasionally with
vibraphonist Gary Burton, with whom he recorded several duet albums on ECM, including 1972's
Crystal Silence. They reunited in 2006 for a concert tour. A new record called
The New Crystal Silence was issued shortly into 2008. The package includes a disc of duets and another disc featuring the Sydney Symphony.
Later work
His other bands include the
Elektric Band, the
Akoustic Band, and
Origin.
The Akoustic Band released a self-titled album in 1989, and featured
John Patitucci on bass and
Dave Weckl on drums. It marked a turn back toward traditional jazz in Corea's career, and the bulk of his subsequent recordings have been acoustic ones. The Akoustic Band also provided the music for the 1986 Pixar short
Luxo Jr. with their song
The Game Maker.
In 1992, he started his own record label,
Stretch Records.
In 2001, the
Chick Corea New Trio, with
Avishai Cohen and
Jeff Ballard on bass and drums respectively, released the album
Past, Present & Futures. Notably, the 11-song album includes only one standard composition (
Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz"). The rest of the tunes are Corea originals.
He also participated in 1998's
Like Minds, which features
Gary Burton on vibes,
Pat Metheny on guitar,
Dave Holland on bass and
Roy Haynes on drums.
Recent years have also seen Corea's rising interest in
contemporary classical music. He composed his first
piano concerto — and an adaptation of his
signature piece,
Spain for a full symphony orchestra — and performed it in 1999 with the
London Philharmonic Orchestra. Five years later he composed his first work not to feature any keyboards: His
String Quartet No. 1, specifically written for and performed by the highly acclaimed
Orion String Quartet on 2004's
Summerfest.
Corea has continued releasing jazz fusion
concept albums such as
To the Stars (2004) and
Ultimate Adventure (2006). The latter album won the
Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group.
Scientology as artistic inspiration
Under the "special thanks" notes, found in all of his later albums, Corea mentions that the author
L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the
Scientology movement, has been a continual source of inspiration. In 1968 Corea discovered
Dianetics, Hubbard's principal work, and in the early 1970s developed an interest in Hubbard's
science fiction novels. The two exchanged letters until Hubbard's death in 1986, and Corea even did some work on music Hubbard had written, noting, "[Hubbard] was a great composer and keyboard player as well. He did many, many things. He was a true
Renaissance Man."
Not all musicians he's collaborated with have been content with his views. Reportedly,
Joe Farrell once told him not to "lay that Scientology shit" on him.
In addition, it's speculated that Stanley Clarke's leaving of Scientology led to the breakup of Return to Forever.
Corea also appears in the Scientology film
Orientation, giving a testimonial on how Scientology has helped him.
Awards
Over the years, he's been nominated for 45
Grammy Awards out of which he's won 14:
| Year |
ward |
lbum/song |
| 1976 |
Best jazz instrumental performance, group |
No Mystery (with Return to Forever) |
| 1977 |
Best arrangement of an instrumental recording |
"Leprechaun's Dream", The Leprechaun |
| 1977 |
Best jazz instrumental performance, group |
The Leprechaun |
| 1979 |
Best jazz instrumental performance, group |
Friends |
| 1980 |
Best jazz instrumental performance, group |
Duet (with Gary Burton) |
| 1982 |
Best jazz instrumental performance, group |
In Concert, Zürich, October 28, 1979 (with Gary Burton) |
| 1989 |
Best R&B instrumental performance |
"Light Years", GRP Super Live In Concert (with Elektric Band) |
| 1990 |
Best jazz instrumental performance, group |
Akoustic Band (with Akoustic Band) |
| 2000 |
Best instrumental solo |
"Rhumbata", Native Sense (with Gary Burton) |
| 2001 |
|
Like Minds (with Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes and Dave Holland) |
| 2002 |
Best instrumental arrangement |
"Spain for Sextet & Orchestra", Corea.Concerto |
| 2004 |
Best jazz instrumental solo |
"Matrix" |
| 2007 |
Best jazz instrumental performance, group |
"The Ultimate Adventure" |
His
1968 album
Now He Sings, Now He Sobs was inducted in the
Grammy Hall of Fame in
1999.
Discography
Solo and collaborative releases
- Tones for Joan's Bones (1966)
- Inner Space (1966)
- Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (1968)
- Is (1969)
- Sundance (1969)
- The Song of Singing (1970)
- Piano Improvisations Vol. 1 (1971)
- Piano Improvisations Vol. 2 (1971)
- The Leprechaun (1976)
- My Spanish Heart (1976)
- The Mad Hatter (1978)
- (1978)
- Secret Agent (1978)
- Friends (1978)
- Delphi I (1979)
- CoreaHancock (1978)
- Tap Step (1980)
- Live in Montreux (1981)
- Three Quartets (1981)
- Touchstone (1982)
- Trio Music (1982)
- Again & Again (1983)
- On two pianos (1983, with Nicolas Economou)
- The Meeting (Chick Corea and Friedrich Gulda album) (1983, with Friedrich Gulda)
- Children's Songs (1984)
- Fantasy for Two Pianos with Friedrich Gulda (1984)
- Voyage - with Steve Kujala (1984)
- Septet (1985)
- Trio Music Live in Europe (1987)
- Chick Corea Featuring Lionel Hampton (1988)
- Play (1992, with Bobby McFerrin)
- Seabreeze (1993)
- Expressions (1993)
- Time Warp (1995)
- The Mozart Sessions (1996, with Bobby McFerrin)
- Remembering Bud Powell (1997)
- Like Minds (1998, Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, Dave Holland)
Solo Piano - Originals (2000)
Solo Piano - Standards (2000)
(2001)
Rendezvous In New York (2003)
The Ultimate Adventure (2006)
The Enchantment (2007, with Béla Fleck)
5trios - 1. Dr. Joe (with Antonio Sanchez, John Patitucci )(2007)
5trios - 2. From Miles (with Eddie Gomez, Jack de Johnette )(2007)
5trios - 3. Chillin' in Chelan (with Christian Mc Bride, Jeff Ballard ))(2007)
5trios - 4. The Boston Three Party (with Eddie Gomez, Airto Moreira )(2007)
5trios - 5. Brooklyn, Paris to Clearwater (with Hadrien Feraud, Richie Barshay )(2007)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Chick Corea'.
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