CHICK COREA 70th BIRTHDAY CONCERTS AT THE BLUE NOTE, NYC

Now that the widely successful Return to Forever IV tour has wrapped for the year, work has begun on the next projects - and that is a new CD and DVD. Producer Lenny White is now faced with the task of sorting through the massive amounts of material to pick the “best of the best.” Once that is done, White will be mixing those elements throughout them month of November. In the mean time, Chick Corea will be celebrating his 70th birthday with a month-long series of concerts at The Blue Note in New York City, where he will be joined by his Return to Forever band mates as well as other guest musicians.

November 1-2 / Return to Forever – Unplugged
First up will be Return to Forever – Unplugged as Stanley Clarke, Frank Gambale and Lenny White join Corea at the Blue Note club on November 1 and 2.

November 3 / Chick Corea / Guy Peacock / Brian Blade
Gary Peacock and Brian Blade will join Corea for one a one night only special performance. Peacock is the brilliant bassist in Keith Jarrett’s “standards” trio and long-time friend and collaborator with Corea, and Blade, also appearing with the Five Peace Band, is one of the most acclaimed drummers today. This concert is for November 3.

November 4–6 / Five Peace Band
From November 4 – 6, Guitar legend John McLaughlin joins Corea in the Five Peace band, also featuring Kenny Garrett, Brian Blade and John Pattitucci. The band’s CD Five Peace Band Live won the 2010 Best Jazz Instrumental Album Grammy® award.

November 8-10 / Bobby McFerrin Duet
Bobby McFerrin joins Corea on November 8-10 along with some special guests who will joint them on stage. Together they have recorded two albums of far-reaching jazz and classical music. Their musical chemistry is legendary – a high-wire act without a net. Corea will also tour with Bobby McFerrin in 2012.

November 11-13 / Chick Corea & Gary Burton
From November 11 through the 13th, Chick Corea and Gary Burton welcome the Harlem String Quartet, playing a preview of the upcoming CD Hot House (available February 2012). With this arrangement, Corea and Burton are pioneering a new sound: chamber jazz. Corea will also be on tour with Gary Burton in Europe during 2012.

November 15-17 / From Miles
Miles Davis debuted many of the biggest names in jazz within his own bands, and now Corea assembles a quintet of them: Eddie Gomez, Jack DeJohnette, Wallace Roney and Gary Bartz. Corea and DeJohnettes history with Miles dates back to the seminal Bitches Brew sessions.

November 18-20 / Chick’s Flamenco Heart
Passionate, fiery and soulful, the top Flamenco and Spanish Jazz artists meld with Chick: Latin superstar Concha Buika, the African inspired Flamenco singer who sold out New York’s Town Hall; Flamenco legends guitarist Nino Josete, bassist Carles Benavent, and flautist Jorge Pardo (all veterans of Paco De Lucia’s band), and one of Spain’s most in-demand drummers, Jeff Ballard (who moved to the country to be immersed in his love of Spanish/Flamenco rhythms). Appropriately dubbed Chick’s Flamenco Heart, this extension of Corea's landmark album My Spanish Heart and his most famous composition “Spain.”

November 22 / Marcus Robert Piano Duet
Marcus Roberts joins Corea for one night only on November 22. Roberts is a longtime partner of Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center, and he has mastered every style of jazz piano since the pre-bop era.

November 23 / Herbie Hancock Piano Duet
Another one night only special event as Corea duets with jazz legend Herbie Hancock! In 1978, at the height of electric jazz, Corea and Hancock shocked the jazz world by touring as an acoustic piano duet. Since that legendary pairing, their collaborations have been extremely rare.

November 25-27 / The Elektric Band
Corea wraps up the month with the original members of the Elektric Band: Eric Marienthal, Frank Gambale, John Pattitucci and Dave Weckl. This is the lineup that defined the sound of electric jazz in the 1980’s, with a series of masterpieces including Light Years and Eye of the Beholder.