Chick
Corea – an NEA Jazz Master and winner of 20 GRAMMY® Awards – has been a prime
mover in jazz ever since the late 1960s, when the keyboardist was a youngblood
in the electrifying jazz-rock ensembles of Miles Davis. Corea has made classic
records as a leader both in acoustic mode (such as the star-making Blue Note
trio album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs) and electric (the pioneering ’70s fusion
of Return to Forever), as well as collaborating on acclaimed albums with peers
from Gary Burton to Béla Fleck. On September 9, 2014, Stretch Records/Concord
Jazz will release Trilogy – a recording to rank with the landmarks of Corea’s
career. Trilogy is a triple-CD set recorded live around the world with his spectacularly
virtuosic trio featuring bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade,
both star leaders in their own right (and previously the rhythmic backbone in
Corea’s Five Peace Band). In an interview with Spain’s El Pais, Corea said
about them, “Both are master musicians and together we have an easy rapport.
There is a lot of give and take in our music. It’s always a lot of fun.” And
reviewing one of the stops on the trio’s two globe-trekking tours, All About
Jazz noted, “Corea, ever the mischievous, puckish protagonist, created a
context where the music centered on high-spirited playfulness: pushed and
pulled, twisted and turned, and obliquely refracted – as much about the journey
as it was the destination.”
A marvel
of live recorded sound, particularly for having been captured in multiple stops
on the road, Trilogy sees the trio reinvent classic Corea compositions (such as
“Spain”), as well as previously unreleased originals (“Piano Sonata: The
Moon”). The group also performs an array of jazz standards (including two
Thelonious Monk tunes) and even re-imagines a Prelude by fin-de-siècle Russian
composer Alexander Scriabin (“Op. 11, No. 9”). The recordings were made live in
Washington, D.C., and Oakland, CA; in Spain, Switzerland and Austria; and in
Slovenia, Turkey and Japan. Corea, McBride and Blade are joined by special
guests on three tracks: flutist Jorge Pardo and guitarist Niño Josele in
Madrid (“My Foolish Heart” and, aptly, “Spain”) and vocalist Gayle Moran Corea,
the pianist’s wife and longtime collaborator, in Sapporo (“Someday My Prince
Will Come”). About one of the concerts, WUVT Virginia said, “The performance
was mostly fun and relaxed, but as expected from Chick Corea, it had its
moments of deep thought in which the music could bring tears to one’s eyes.”
Corea
calls the trio experience with McBride and Blade “a joyful exploration,”
adding, “There’s a certain chemistry that happens, which is really difficult to
describe – it’s simply that thing that happens when the three of us get
together to play. I know I find myself trying things that I wouldn’t normally
try. The game of live performance – for a performer and a listener – is one of
the most basic human pleasures. For me, certainly, the best and most rewarding
thing I know to do in music is to play live for a live audience. And no matter
how recordings and the mass consumption of music evolve, the fundamental
musical experience will always be a live performance. A live album like this is
the next best thing to being there, a snapshot of special moments in musical
time that we can share.”
One of
the album’s special moments is the trio’s interpretation of Thelonious Monk’s
“Blue Monk.” Along with the sheer life-affirming delight of Corea’s piano in
this number, it’s the old-wood tone and earthy swing in McBride’s solos that
are a particular sensual pleasure. About the bassist, Corea says, “Christian is
a complete musician in all senses. With total command of his instrument and a
flowing ability to creatively improvise in any situation, he’s able to bring
joyful surprises every time.”
Reviewing
the trio’s show at the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan, The New York Times
singled out Blade’s contribution as “a crucial factor” to the group’s sound:
“Tapping into the deeper currents, Mr. Blade can be startlingly dynamic.” His
traps solo on Corea’s vintage composition “Fingerprints” is as rich in color as
it is in groove. “Brian is totally unique as a drummer and a highly
accomplished musician,” says Corea. “He doesn’t just ‘keep time.’ He colors and
comps and orchestrates everything he plays. He transcends the instrument he
plays – he’s amazingly artistic.”
In its
review of the trio’s concert at Orchestra Hall in the Windy City, the Chicago
Tribune singled out Corea’s “feathery touch” in Kurt Weill’s “This Is New,” his
“soft tone, free-ranging lines and mercurial rhythms quickly echoed by McBride
and Blade. Here were three musicians discarding conventional notions of phrase
and song structure, of solo and ensemble passages. Instead, they created a
free-flowing, translucent music that thickened or thinned, sped up or slowed
down according to the impulse of the moment.” The Tribune also highlighted the
trio’s re-envisioning of Scriabin: “The Russian iconoclast's extended harmonies
and mystical yearnings are ripe for jazz improvisation. Corea proved the point,
riffing on Scriabin with fleet and silvery lines, the pianist’s nervous energy
intensified by McBride’s restless phrases on bass and Blade’s shimmering statements
on drums. In effect, Corea’s trio got under the skin of music penned on another
continent roughly a century earlier – through jazz.”
Corea
has always had a special feel for Spanish music, tapping the spirit of Rodrigo
for his classic “Spain,” among many other of his pieces that explore Iberian
colors and rhythms. Corea recalls the performance of “Spain” included on
Trilogy: “The night in Madrid with Jorge Pardo and Niño Josele was magical. It
was our final trio concert of that particular tour – and, of course, Jorge and
Niño are stars in Spain. You can feel the audience and band’s excited vibe on
the recording.” The new piece “Homage” is another in that line, a tribute to
the late flamenco guitar genius Paco de Lucía. Corea explains, “This is my homage
to flamenco musical roots and culture – so warmly shown to me by the great Paco
de Lucía along with Carles Benavent, Jorge Pardo and Rubem Dantas, all of whom
were integral members of Paco’s bands for two decades. ‘Homage’ is my tip of
the hat and thank you to him and the beauty of this musical culture.”
The
previously unrecorded “Piano Sonata: Moon” is the most expansive performance on
Trilogy, at an epic half an hour. It’s kaleidoscopic and utterly absorbing
music. “This is the first movement of a piano sonata that I began composing
several years ago but never completed,” says Corea. “I thought it would be
ideal to expand it in this trio setting since Christian and Brian are so adept
at reading and interpreting tricky scores. We spent time weaving together the
written sections with the improvised sections.”
Trilogy
also features interpretations of items from the Great American Songbook: “My
Foolish Heart,” “It Could Happen to You,” “How Deep Is the Ocean?” and more,
all performances of grace and freshness. The album closes with “Someday My
Prince Will Come,” with its guest vocal. Corea says, “My sweet wife, Gayle,
always brings the kind of warmth and lyricism to the stage that I love.”
Much of
the pleasure in Trilogy is the sheer beauty of the recorded sound, always a
challenge to achieve on the road with varying acoustics and equipment. The
gorgeous result – full of high-definition depth and detail – is the product of
“the deep understanding and artistry of my recording engineer, Bernie Kirsh,
who is a genius and with whom I have collaborated since 1975, when we made The
Leprechaun together. The techniques that he developed through the years plus
the rapport we both have for the kind and quality of sound we love led to the
very highest quality live recordings. Brian Vibberts did a great job of mixing
on this one, with my and Bernie’s long-distance input. I think we made for a
good three-way team.”
Summing
up Trilogy, Corea says, “I’ve made a life of learning and inventing ways to
make music, but it often seems unproductive for me to try to describe it in
words. But I have one about working with this trio and making this live album:
pleasure. I hope listeners experience the same.”
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