Chick Corea Selected Recordings

Chick Corea's long, varied career resists a definitive summary on any one disc, so inevitably this Rarum volume is going to be limited by definition. Indeed, Corea compresses his choices further to only three of his many ensembles: the first Brazilian-charged edition of Return to Forever, his duets with vibraphonist Gary Burton, and the superb reunited 1980s trio with bassist Miroslav Vitous and drummer Roy Haynes (in any case, ECM promises a second Rarum volume of Corea chamber music in 2003). The present volume starts with a truncated version of the Return to Forever band's "Sometime Ago/La Fiesta" medley, the moody seven-minute intro lopped off perhaps to accommodate the limits of a CD that was pushing 80 minutes.

The legendary first lineup of Chick Corea's fusion band Return to Forever debuted on this classic album (titled after the group but credited to Corea), featuring Joe Farrell on soprano sax and flute, the Brazilian team of vocalist Flora Purim and drummer/percussionist Airto Moreira, and electric bass whiz Stanley Clarke. It wasn't actually released in the U.S. until 1975, which was why the group's second album, Light as a Feather, initially made the Return to Forever name. Nonetheless, Return to Forever is every bit as classic, using a similar blend of spacy electric-piano fusion and Brazilian and Latin rhythms. It's all very warm, light, and airy, like a soft breeze on a tropical beach – hardly the sort of firebrand approach to fusion that Miles Davis, Tony Williams, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra were exploring, and far less rooted in funk or rock.

2006 seems to be a significant year for jazz's elder states persons. Pianist Andrew Hill has seen a year full of recordings: new music, reissues and previously unreleased material, as well as an outstanding tribute by guitarist Nels Cline. Chick Corea, who's a few years younger than Hill, has released a new record and toured with trios focusing on his back catalog. Super Trio (Stretch, 2006) documented a tour where the pianist was clearly in control of the arrangements; however, Live in Molde is an entirely different affair.

During an era when the word "fusion" was applied to any mixture of jazz with pop or funk, Chick Corea's Elektric Band reinforced the word's original meaning: a combination of jazz improvisations with the power, rhythms and sound of rock. Eye of the Beholder, which found guitarist Frank Gambale, saxophonist Eric Marienthal and bassist John Patitucci displaying increasingly original solo voices, is one of this group's finest recordings and ranks with the best fusion of the latter half of the 1980s.

Gary Burton & Chick Corea - Crystal Silence, The ECM Recordings 1972-79 (2009) {4CD Box Set, ECM 2036~39}
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© 1972-79, 2009 ECM Records | ECM 2036~39
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano / Vibraphone

Specially-priced 4-CD set reprising the history-making recordings Chick Corea and Gary Burton made for ECM in the 70s. The duo was a seldom-tested format in jazz when the musicians - at the instigation of producer Manfred Eicher - came together for Crystal Silence, but its luminous music proved a resounding success. Both Duet and the Zurich recordings won Grammy awards, and Corea/Burton have continued to make music together for 35 years! This box shows how the story began. Two live selections I'm Your Pal/Hullo, Bolinas and Love Castle appear on CD for the first time in this collection. The booklet includes liner notes by acclaimed Swiss journalist Peter Ruedi and writer Steve Lake, and many archival photos.

Chick Corea - Five Trios (2007) {6CD Box Set, Stretch Records - Japanese-only Edition, UCCJ-9089~94}
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© 2007 Universal Japan/ Chick Corea Prod. / Stretch Records | UCCJ-9089~94
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

Japanese-only six CD box set from the Jazz legend featuring five discs containing recordings from his famous trios (one trio per disc) plus a bonus CD. 'Dr. Joe' features bassist John Patitucci and drummer Antonio Sanchez (Pat Metheny). 'From Miles' (tribute to Miles Davis), recorded live in New York, 2006 and featuring Corea, bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Jack DeJohnette. 'Chillin' In Chelan' (tribute to Thelonious Monk) recorded live in Washington D.C. in 2005 features bassist Christian McBride and drummer, Jeff Ballard. 'The Boston Three Party', tribute to Bill Evans recorded at Boston's Berklee Performance Center on 4/28/06 and features Eddie Gomez (bass) and Airto Moreira(drums). All new studio recordings 'Brooklyn, Paris to Clearwater' featuring Chick Corea (keyboards), spectacular French bassist Hadrien Feraud (John McLaughlin) and drummer Richie Barshay. A five track bonus cd featuring 2 tracks from Corea/Gomez/ Moreira, 2 tracks from Corea/McBride/ Ballard and 1 track from Corea/Patitucci/Sanchez.

This CD reissue consists primarily of tracks from Chick Corea's early Blue Note LPs Now He Sings, Now He Sobs and The Song of Singing. Both are trio sessions. The former, recorded in 1968, featured bassist Miroslav Vitous and drummer Roy Haynes playing a program combining originals and standards. The latter, recorded in 1970, is a more experimental outing with bassist Dave Holland and drummer Barry Altschul. Corea's playing demonstrates a freedom and spontaneity that became all too rare on his later recordings, while the compelling interaction of the trio pointed the way for the ECM chamber-jazz sound of the early '70s. Shortly after this recording, saxophonist Anthony Braxton joined the trio to form the short-lived Circle, which combined free jazz with avant-garde classical composition.

The Complete "Is" Sessions were recorded during Chick Corea's tenure with Miles Davis, along with bassist Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette. Recorded over three days in New York, the final product came out as two albums on different labels "Is," "This," "Jamala," and "I," were issued as Is on Solid State, and the remaining cuts came out as Sundance on Groove Merchant "The Brain," "Song of the Wind," "Converge," and the title cut. Blue Note has assembled not only the two released recordings on this double-CD package, but the alternate takes as well, to offer a complex, very remarkable portrait of the chemistry that occurred when that trio engaged Woody Shaw, Bennie Maupin, Hubert Laws, and additional drummer Horace Arnold.

2007 two CD set containing the complete recordings of Herbie Mann with Chick Corea, consisting of the three complete albums Monday Night at the Village Gate, Standing Ovation at Newport and Latin Mann: Afro to Bossa to Blues (all recorded in 1965), plus all seven of the tracks from the album The Roar of the Greasepaint the Smell of the Crowd in which both musicians are present. For the first time ever on one release! This material is either long out of print or is only available in Japan on limited edition! Includes a 12-page comprehensive booklet! 26 tracks.