AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Chick Corea

Artist:Chick Corea

Song:Spain

Album:Compact Jazz

This is another in my Jazz for Beginners series with a performance video clip and an affordable CD appropriate for beginners. Today pianist Armando "Chick" Corea is hailed as one of the pioneers of jazz fusion. This was in the 70s when he led the band Return to Forever. Spain is one of his most enduring compositions and it was first recorded on the 1972 album Light as a Feather. He was born June 12, 1941 in Chelsea, MA. He's of Italian descent. His father played trumpet in a Dixieland Jazz band and he introduced Corea to the piano at age 4. His father taught him piano but at age 8, his dad took him to concert pianist Salvatore Sullo for formal lessons. Corea was already interested in bebop but he needed that classical training as his base. Corea listened to Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Bud Powell. His dad gave him a tuxedo so he could play local clubs as a teen. He moved to New York and studied at Columbia University and Julliard. Corea left school so he could concentrate on playing gigs. He started out recording and touring with guys like Mongo Santamaria, Herbie Mann and Stan Getz. He recorded his debut album for Atlantic's Vortex label in 1966. But then he really got noticed for the 1968 album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs with Miroslav Vitous on bass and Roy Haynes on drums on Sonny Lester's Solid State label. Then he recorded with Miles Davis on the pioneering jazz fusion album Bitches Brew. He toured with Davis until the 1970 Isle of Wight concert. Corea and bassist Dave Holland left the Davis band to form Circle with Anthony Braxton on sax and Barry Altschul on drums. They recorded for Blue Note and ECM. ECM owner Manfred Eicher wanted Corea to record a couple of solo albums. Then he recorded the 1972 album Return to Forever. This album was jazz fusion and Eicher thought Return to Forever should be on a label with wider distribution. So Corea signed with Polydor and he got them to distribute ECM in the US. The 1973 album Light as a Feather featured songs like Spain which has become a jazz standard. The band was the same as the first Return to Forever album with Joe Farrell on flute and sax, Stanley Clarke on bass Airto Moreira on drums and percussion and his wife Flora Purim on vocals and percussion. The album was a big success and was named Playboy Jazz Album of the Year. This is the album that established Corea as a force in jazz. Though Corea continued to record solo, he also wanted to establish Return to Forever as a force. For the 1973 album Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, Farrell and Moreira were replaced by Bill Connors on guitar and Lenny White on drums. Al Di Meola replaced Connors for the 1974 album Where Have I Known You Before. Return to Forever switched to Columbia for the 1976 album Romantic Warrior. They recorded two albums for Columbia then disbanded. The 70s are considered to be the peak of Corea's career. And this Verve budget comp covers that period. While continuing to record for ECM, Corea left Polydor in 1980 and recorded for various labels until he established his own label Stretch which was distributed by Concord. He also recorded duet albums with Gary Burton and Herbie Hancock. Though he was never as popular in the new millennium as he was in the 70s, Corea continued to be a strong live draw until his death on Feb. 9, 2021 at age 79. Here is Chick Corea with Joe Farrell on flute, Stanley Clarke on bass, Airto Moreira on drums and Bill Tragesser on vocals and percussion performing Spain at the 1972 Molde Jazz Festival in Norway.