Here, there a Chick, Where else a Chick Corea ?

I have enjoyed Chick Corea's work for a long time, and have seen him in concert on 3 occasions. One of the most enjoyable concerts was with vibist Gary Burton, with whom Corea has had a long association. One of their early duet albums, "Crystal Silence", still holds up well after 30 years. Many of Corea's solo albums are certainly worth checking out.

In 1968, Corea recorded "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs", which is a musical summation of his melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic approaches to jazz improvisation. The album has inspired many other pianists and certainly deserves a place in any collection of Corea's work.

In the early 1970's, Corea led a group called Return to Forever. He did two enjoyable recordings with this group: "Return to Forever", and "Light as a Feather".

If you are interested in hearing some of Corea's best work as a sideman, listen to the Stan Getz album, "Sweet Rain". It contains some very nice work by Corea.

Oddly enough, I just finished listening to an old copy of "My Spanish Heart", which is a very nice double solo album that he recorded in the mid 70's. In addition, one of my all time favorites of his is a quirky, fun album done about the same time called "The Leprechaun". A bit more playful and a little less mainstream than Spanish Heart, but thoroughly enjoyable.

If you haven't heard any of the Return to Forever albums, then its definitely worth sampling a few of them. The style is definitively mid seventies fusion, and might feel a bit dated if you're used to more modern compositions. However, the group itself is a collection of jazz giants (Chick Corea, Stanley Clark, Al DiMeola, and Lenny White), and the work they produce displays a marvelous virtuosity that make them nearly as compelling today as they were 25 years ago. My favorite of the bunch is “Romantic Warrior” (which is actually less Chick Corea and more of the other members), but across the board they’re all great albums.

Chick Corea is a pianist and composer of such depth and talent, that you can't really go wrong with any of his recordings. His styles have changed over the years (for better or worse), but with each turn he presents such wonderful and imaginative melodies that its hard not to find something you’ll enjoy about most of them. You might spend some time rummaging through the song samples available at Amazon or CDNow and see if anything fits your tastes.

"Now He Sings, Now He Sobs" Beautiful. I love this recording.