Remembering Chick Corea: From Spain to Sorceress, 12 essential performances from the virtuoso Corea helped enrich the lexicon of jazz, merging its harmonic language with the heaviness (and amplification) of rock and funk. Chick Corea in1976. Polydor Records/Wikimedia Commons
Chick Corea, the pioneering keyboardist and bandleader who died last Tuesday at 79, will be forever regarded as a crucial architect of jazz-rock fusion.
It’s a fitting one-line tribute. Whether on his own, leading the collective Return to Forever or accompanying giants like Miles Davis (on landmark albums including “In a Silent Way” and “Bitches Brew”), Corea helped enrich the lexicon of jazz, merging its harmonic language with the heaviness (and amplification) of rock and funk. But no description, even one this broad, can encompass a vision so limitless.
It’s become a tough week for music fans.
Following the death of Mary Wilson of The Supremes Monday, today we learned another prior guest of HPR All Things Considered Host Dave Lawrence, jazz giant Chick Corea, passed away Tuesday, at 79, according to his website, “from a rare form of cancer which was only discovered very recently”.
In 2016, we got a chance to sit down with the one-time Miles Davis keyboardist and founder of fusion legends Return to Forever, when Chick brought a trio including Eddie Gomez and Brian Blade to the Blue Note Hawaii. We’ve included the complete video of the interview below, and shared highlights today on the show in memory of this musical luminary, and guest we re grateful to have had time with.
Chick Corea, a towering jazz pianist with a staggering 23 Grammy Awards who pushed the boundaries of the genre and worked alongside Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, has died. He was 79.