Jazz is sad today
RIP Chick Corea
Master of the game
I was greatly saddened when Marek told me today of the passing of jazz great Chick Corea, the incredible pianist who pushed the limits of jazz with each and every performance he gave, who played with other greats such as Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock (whom he replaced in Davis' group in 1968), among many others.
Then again, I was heartened and pleased when he quipped that Corea had indeed "returned to forever," giving clear homage to the highly influential jazz fusion group "Return to Forever" that Corea founded in 1971, and which helped launch the careers of jazz artists as diverse as bassist Stanley Clarke, guitarist Al Di Meola, Brazilian vocalist Flora Purim, and French electric violinist Jean-Luc Ponty.
He stayed vibrant and active until the end, releasing the double album "Plays" last year, which was a compilation of various concert performances with Corea on solo piano.
As stated in the release by the Associated Press, "Corea is the artist with the most jazz Grammys in the show's 63-year history, and he has a chance to posthumously win at the March 14 show, where he's nominated for best improvised jazz solo for 'All Blues' and best jazz instrumental album for 'Trilogy 2.'"
Personally, and with the caveat that I don't even know what he's up against in either category, I'm pulling for him to win both Grammys, and bring it to a solid 25.
RIP Chick Corea; you will be greatly missed. Godspeed in your own Return to Forever.
I'd also like to kick myself, because I had a chance to sign up for the initial masterclass when he originally founded The Chick Corea Academy, but put it off, mostly due to a lack of time.
Lesson learned: when a jazz master gives a masterclass, MAKE THE DAMNED TIME. Of course, the Academy is still around, and as their courses are almost exclusively on video, I am assuming they will still be available; but how much more special it would have been to take them while he was still alive. Damn and double damn.
As many of you know, my dad was a jazz pianist, and my mother was a classical pianist, so we grew up surrounded by a wide variety of music in our home; so I was familiar with Chick Corea by name from a fairly early age. I'm not certain, however, whether if asked, I could have accurately pointed to any of his own works at the time.
But I remember well the day when he came onto my personal musical radar.
I was on my way to work, traveling south on the 405 freeway, or more accurately the "405 parking lot" as my family and I often referred to it, and listening as I often did to our local L.A. jazz station, KKGO; which, at the time, was the Number 1 jazz station in the country, and for good reason. They had phenomenal programming standards.
And I remember being a bit nonplussed when, shortly before arriving at work, Ravel's "Bolero" began to play, and wondering to myself why on earth our jazz station was suddenly playing a classical piece . . . I even checked the radio dial, to make certain that I hadn't accidentally switched over to KFAC, our local classical station. But then KFAC was on AM, and KKGO was on FM, so that was unlikely at best.
And then it happened . . . the sudden ERUPTION of Chick Corea's absolute wailing on the piano, in a virtuoso performance that electrified me, and still does to this day; followed by the cool smooth jazz artistry of Hubert Laws' flute, and then building to the final rousing crescendo of the orchestra.
Upon arriving at work, I parked and finished listening to the piece before going inside, as there was NO WAY IN HELL that I was going to voluntarily end that masterpiece early. And it still leaves me feeling that way to this day.
Then, upon leaving work that afternoon, my very first stop was my favorite record store, where I bought two copies of the LP: one for myself, and one for my dad. He had recently retired to Florida, and I knew that he was busy enough getting settled that he probably hadn't picked up the album as yet, if he was even aware of its release.
Bonus: the entire album is great.
In any case, do yourself a favor and listen to the piece above, which is the album cut of "Bolero," by Hubert Laws, from his wonderful album "Family," featuring the great Chick Corea performing what is probably my favorite jazz piano solo of all time.
You won't be sorry.
Okay, in an odd turn of events, my roosters just started a crowing contest, and it's 11:05 PM, and currently 34 degrees. Perhaps they're trying to compete for my attention with Chick Corea's piano solo, lol!
In any case, you're going to be hearing from me more frequently once again, as I am taking up the mantle once more of a 30-Day Haiku Challenge with myself, since 
My brain switches into poetry mode quite easily and fluidly, and as I found writing haiku to be a great writing prompt in the past, I've decided to take it back up again going forward, and go back to daily posts. You're all welcome to come along for the ride. ;-)
And yeah, I know my banners are WAY out of date, but I'll work on getting them all updated over the next week or two.
Love Y'all.
Thanks for hanging in there with me, even while I was AWOL.
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