12 June celebrates 75th anniversary Chick Corea- one of the most influential and respected jazz musicians in the world, winner of more than two dozen awards Grammy(more precisely, at the moment - 22) and more than 40 nominations for this most prestigious award in the field of sound recording, as well as many other international awards.

In 2012, the prestigious award of the International Association of Jazz Journalists Jazz Award-2012 in the category “ Best photo of the Year" was awarded to a regular author of "Jazz.Ru", who has been publishing with us since 1998 - the master of Russian jazz photography, Pavel Korbut. The prize was awarded to his 2011 work “Pianist Chick Corea”, which served as the basis for the cover of Jazz.Ru magazine No. 2-2011.

The award presentation took place in August 2012 on the stage of the Moscow festival “Jazz in the Hermitage Garden”.

Antonio Armando Corea(Chick - "Chicken" - his musician nickname) was born on June 12, 1941 in Chelsea, Massachusetts (a suburb of Boston). Until 1958, he lived with his parents at house number 149 on Chestnut Street, which in 2001 was renamed in honor of its famous native Chick Corea Street. In 1956, when Corea was in the ninth grade, he was elected "president" of his class and, according to the school report, proved himself to be "the most driven to succeed, the most cooperative and the most musical." According to the same description, he then, at the age of 15, wanted to “become jazz musician and write songs." His former classmates recall that he was very modest, that his dad led an amateur ensemble that played at all school events (this was unusual for those places - all the surrounding schools simply played records), and Chick himself played trumpet in the school orchestra and accompanied the school choir on the piano.

Chick Corea's great jazz career began in New York in the first half of the 1960s. as part of jazz groups led by Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo, Herbie Mann And Stan Getz. It was then that he made his first solo recordings.

The most important stage in the musician’s life was the invitation to the ensemble of the great jazz revolutionary - trumpeter Miles Davis, with whom Miles recorded important albums in the late 60s: “ Filles de Kilimanjaro», « In A Silent Way», « Bitches Brew».

VIDEO: August 29, 1970, Miles Davis plays a 38-minute improvisation later called “Call It Anything” at the Isle of Wight Rock Festival (UK).
Members: Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett - keyboards, Gary Bartz - saxophones, Dave Holland - bass guitar, Airto Moreira - percussion, Jack DeJohnette - drums.

Since then, Chick Corea has repeatedly turned to a variety of styles - from avant-garde acoustic jazz to fusion and post-bop. In the late 80s and 90s, Chick Corea became interested in large concert forms, he created a piano concerto with a symphony orchestra (recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra), as well as jazz versions of concerts by W.A. Mozart and other large forms in the manner crossover(at the intersection of jazz and academic music).

Over the years, Chick Corea worked with a variety of his own compositions - Circle, Return To Forever, Elektric Band, New Trio and etc.

VIDEO: Chick Corea with his band Return To Forever, 1973

Chick Corea has performed on all the largest and most prestigious concert stages in America, Europe and Asia, participated in the most important festivals and collaborated with famous musicians ( Bobby McFerrin, John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucia, Herbie Hancock, Al DiMeola, John Patitucci, Bela Fleck and etc). Chick Corea has released over 100 albums.

A special role in the life of Chick Corea was played by collaboration with the vibraphonist Gary Burton. Back in 1972, on a little-known European label Editions for Contemporary Music(“Publishing House of Contemporary Music”), now known to everyone simply as ECM, an album was recorded by the duo of Chick Corea and Gary Burton, entitled "Crystal Silence", " Crystal Silence" The idea of ​​silence generally occupied the permanent head and producer ECM Manfred Eicher, it is not for nothing that the creative motto of his record company is translated into Russian as “The most beautiful sound, after silence.” Chick and Gary crossed paths by chance in 1971 in Munich, where the company's headquarters are located, on jazz festival, and suddenly discovered that only the two of them came to the festival jam session after the concert. They tried to play together, and, as they say, “clicked.” This is how this duet began. It’s interesting that two years earlier, when Chick was still playing for Miles Davis, and Gary already had his own jazz-rock quartet, they had already tried to play together, but as a quartet, and then it didn’t “click”: the active rhythm section turned out to be redundant for them to play together.

When Corea began duetting with Burton, he had just created his own fusion project, Return to Forever, which was destined to become one of the most famous groups classic 70's jazz rock. But there was no free jazz on the first joint album with Burton (as in Corea's earlier project Circle), nor jazz rock. There was truly crystal clear, light music of an incredibly sharp rhythmic nature as both musicians used their instruments, the piano and vibraphone respectively, emphasizing the sharp percussiveness of their sound. But all this is as usual in the sound aesthetics of the company ECM, sounded very reserved and romantic.

VIDEO: Chick Corea and Gary Burton concert in Tokyo, 1981

The album was a success, and the duo toured almost every year when Chick sent his jazz-rock band on vacation. In hot July 1982, Chick Corea and Gary Burton came to Moscow for the first time, but it was one of the most tense moments cold war, the relationship between Soviet Union and the United States of America were as hostile as ever, and there was no public concert. Some were able to get to their closed performance at Spaso House, the residence of the American ambassador, and the next day there was a jam session in the hall of the Union of Composers - where Soviet jazzmen, as numerous witnesses say, somewhat overdid it, trying to impress the overseas “superstars” "

Corea and Burton listening to a jam in Moscow, 1982 (among the surrounding audience are A.E. Petrov, A. Gradsky, N. Levinovsky, V. Feiertag, etc.) Photo by Alexander Zabrin from the book “Soviet Jazz”, 1987

Subsequently, both Chick and Gary repeatedly came to post-Soviet Russia, each with their own solo projects.

So, Chick Corea performed in Great hall Moscow Conservatory as part of the festival dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the famous concert venue, in April 2001. The ensemble with which he came then - The Chick Corea New Trio, that is, himself, double bassist Avishai Cohen from Israel and drummer Jeff Ballard, was actually the rhythm section of Corea's then-large ensemble, The Origin. At the same time, Corea’s symphonic work, “Concerto No. 1,” was performed at the BZK, performed by the maestro together with a trio and with the symphony orchestra of the Great Hall of the Conservatory (basically student orchestra). The director of the orchestra, Yuri Botnar, conducted.

VIDEO: Chick Corea and his “New Trio” on the air of the “Anthropology” program on NTV, hosted by Dmitry Dibrov (2001).
Interview and unique live recording of the trio with Avishai Cohen and Jeff Ballard in a concert studio.

The duet with Burton reappeared on the Moscow stage only in 2006, when they celebrated the 35th anniversary of their first joint album with a world tour. Two years later on ESM their album " The New Crystal Silence", once again awarded a Grammy Award.

And in April 2011, during the new world tour of the Chick Corea - Gary Burton duet, the two famous musicians performed in Russia for the third time.

VIDEO: Chick Corea & Gary Burton “La Fiesta”
Performance at the festival Jazzwoche Burghausen, 2011

“Jazz.Ru” wrote a lot about the work and performances of Chick Corea - at least about all of his visits, starting with concerts at the BZK in 2001 and ending with a performance in a duet with vocalist Bobby McFerrin in 2012. But on the day of his 75th anniversary of the famous pianist, we decided to reproduce the texts of two of his interviews: the first was taken from him by our Yerevan correspondent Armen Manukyan behind the scenes of the Yerevan Jazz Festival in 2000, and the second one was taken from him by phone before performances in Moscow in 2001 by a music journalist Andrey Solovyov, later a long-time co-author of our jazz podcast “Listen here.”

Chick Corea: "My purpose is to entertain people" (2000)

Text exclusive interview, which the great pianist gave to Yerevan journalist Armen Manukyan backstage at the Yerevan Jazz Festival (he did not give a single interview during his entire visit to Armenia in early June 2000).

Now many are trying to predict the future path of jazz development. Some see it in alliance with electronics, others - in symbiosis with folklore or classics. What is your opinion?

I am often asked about the future of jazz, and this is a very good and necessary question, we really need to ask ourselves now. So, for me it is not so important whether jazz will be more similar in appearance to symphonic music or folk music, or whether there will be more or less attention paid to improvisation. For me, the most important thing is the situation in which music is born and performed. Real music can only exist in a calm, peaceful atmosphere. If the situation in the country is tense, people are intimidated, then art, including music, suffers first of all. Because music is, first of all, musicians, and musicians are people who live in the country. So, if we want our music to flourish, we must create a calm environment, give musicians creative freedom, in a word, a happy life. This is a very difficult task, but we must do everything in our power to accomplish it. But in what form a musician’s creativity finds expression is no longer so important.

There is an opinion that jazz Lately has lost its original purpose - to entertain and amuse people. Having become the music of professionals, jazz left clubs and bars, moving to philharmonic halls. Jazz has become too complex, an elitist art.

Any music that becomes too serious loses its soul, its emotionality, and finally loses its listeners. And it's not just jazz. A similar problem is inherent in any other form of art. Each genre has its professionals and amateurs, and jazz in this sense is no exception. Jazz can only be considered real jazz when it is of good quality, when people understand it, when they feel it and enjoy it. Today at the concert in Yerevan we were able to please the listeners, although our music is not so simple. I don't think it's a question of complexity or simplicity of the music. The fact is that to achieve success, a spiritual contact must be established between the performer and the listener. And the main performer of this task is the musician, not the audience. He must create an atmosphere of mutual understanding and trust, only then can he be understood by people.

You perform and record a lot. What should your fans expect in the near future?

I have many different ideas. I'm currently passionate about a project with my sextet Origin- we perform a lot in the most different countries ah peace. I also perform quite often with my solo projects, and have just released two albums recorded during my solo performances in Japan and Europe. I collaborate with the London Philharmonic Orchestra performing my piano concertos. And, of course, I experiment a lot and work with electronics in my studio. It is unlikely that anything worthwhile will come of this, but as a result of such experiments new ideas may be born.

You often change your preferences - you played electronic music, acoustic and classical. Which periods of your creativity do you love most?

It's not about the style of music I perform. I'm a musician, and my purpose is to entertain people, and naturally I don't want to repeat myself endlessly. If I were an actor, then every season I would change my role - tragedian, comedian. I would do something avant-garde for a narrow circle of viewers, entertaining for the general public. I do the same thing as a musician. I always try to create something new to bring people joy and pleasure.

We know Corea the musician very well and at the same time know almost nothing about his life outside of music.

I have two children. Although they are no longer children. My son, Fabius, plays percussion instruments and writes music. He has his own band, and most recently they performed in Las Vegas in a show called Blue Men Group. He is married to a beautiful girl named Tracy. She is a dancer and choreographer and often performs in Broadway musicals. My daughter Liana, an excellent pianist, loves her instrument very much and often performs with her friends, playing jazz. She loves and prefers old jazz from the 40s and 50s. My father passed away 12 years ago, and it was to him that I dedicated my work “ Armando's Rhumba" and more recently - " Armando's Tango" He was also a musician, he had his own group, they often gathered at our house and played, so I grew up in a musical environment. My father had a huge collection of old 78 rpm records, and I listened to them often. My first acquaintance with jazz came through these records. It was the music of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell. I grew up surrounded by musicians and jazz music.

VIDEO: Chick Corea solo performance on Jazz festivalà Vienne, France, 2012

Chick Corea: “I'm not ashamed to study” (2001)

On the eve of Chick Corea's arrival in Russia in 2001, journalist Andrei Solovyov contacted him by phone and asked several questions. First of all, of course, I asked the pianist to comment on the very fact of his performance in the citadel of Russian academic music - the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.
Are you really more interested in classical music now than in jazz?

When I perform or record with an ensemble or orchestra, I try not to think too much about style and its boundaries. It's much more important for me to understand the musicians I work with. The result depends on how the relationship between the performers develops. Here it's not all about style or direction, but about how you manage to find a certain sound. I think least of all about categories - is it classical music, jazz or some other kind, I start primarily from the sound. From this point of view, academic music - be it a chamber orchestra or a symphony orchestra - is distinguished by its special sound colors and capabilities. I have defined a field of activity for myself and I can say: everything I have done lately is internally connected, all my works have a lot in common. I just use different means to realize my ideas.

Over the past 30 years, you have repeatedly returned to the idea of ​​​​synthesizing jazz with academic music - is this connected with some kind of life rhythm, an internal sense of the flow of time?

Don't think. When I think about music or read something about it, it often seems to me that the structures and patterns associated with time, with the process of history, contain too much potential for error. It seems to me that the situation is simpler. I work with classic compositions when it interests me and when there is a favorable opportunity.

One of your famous recordings (" Mad Hatter") is a sound parallel to the tale of Alice in Wonderland. Is there any literary basis at other jobs?

I think that " Mad Hatter" - this is rather an exception to the rule, and I did not try to follow it literally storylines, borrowed from Lewis Carroll. The same can be said about the album " My Spanish Heart”, in which they often try to find one or another program idea. There are no literal parallels with literary works, but I was always interested in Spanish culture - poetry, painting - and all this could influence my work.

Everyone knows you as one of the pioneers in the field of synthesis of jazz and rock. How do you feel about what's happening in rock, pop and dance music today?

I continue to follow with interest what is happening in this area. Here, as always, a lot is concentrated creative people who always invent something unusual. I'm not ashamed to learn from them, I'm always trying to understand what they have to say, and I'm grateful for the fresh ideas of those who record electronic dance music today. Unfortunately, jazzmen often behave arrogantly and consider pop music to be second-class art. It only harms themselves. Sharing ideas and paying close attention to what your neighbors are doing brings nothing but benefits to musicians.

In the first half of the 80s, you already performed in Russia in a duet with vibraphonist Gary Burton. What impressions did this trip leave you with? Which of our musicians do you remember then?

Yes, of course, I remember these tours, there were many different impressions. Of the Russian musicians, I especially liked the pianist at that time Nikolay Levinovsky, I played with him at a jam session and met his family. In St. Petersburg I also met with Igor Butman and with several other wonderful musicians - unfortunately, I don’t remember their names. But in general, I am more familiar with those Russians who permanently live in New York or often come to America. And in Russia itself I was more impressed not by the musicians, but by the listeners, because the interest in my performances was very high. Russians, it seemed to me, really love jazz.

Everyone knows you as one of the most technical virtuosos in modern jazz. How do you feel about those musicians who are less technically prepared but still try to make their way in the art?

I don’t know whether it’s unfortunately or fortunately, but I’m interested in a lot of things. Moreover, I realized that musicians are not often able to make the breakthrough necessary for music to become truly free. And this does not depend on technology or education. Witnessing such an event is always interesting and exciting. But, unfortunately, there is not enough time to search for them.

Do you manage to find time to implement new projects and plans?

Unfortunately, it's not just a matter of time. A lot depends on money. Musicians need to be paid; large expenses are associated with touring and inviting artists from different countries. I am not free to solve these problems - I do not write music for films (many people make good money from this), I do not promote commercial projects. Therefore, any plan, especially if its implementation involves the participation of a large number of people, requires financial support, and I myself do not have sufficient funds. The larger the ensemble, the more expensive the pleasure of working with it.

What attracts you more in music in the first place - the opportunity to talk about serious things, reflect the sublime aspects of life, or vice versa - wit and irony?

It seems to me that we should not focus on the choice between these states. Irony, like a serious attitude to life, is rather a consequence of a lot of work, a result. All sorts of things emotional condition(and music can express a very wide range of human experiences) depends on how sincerely the musicians communicate. Contact with the audience is also very important, and sometimes it is very difficult to establish. If the spirit of communication reigns at a concert, the music can deeply influence both the listeners and the performers themselves.

What is more valuable to you today - creative freedom or discipline and order?

I don't think that "freedom" and "order" should be considered as a pair of opposites at all. The absence of “freedom” means, rather, “slavery,” and “order,” in turn, is opposed to “chaos.” Freedom and discipline never interfere with each other. To be free means to have the ability to make decisions and choose independently and responsibly. To achieve this, you often have to force yourself and do something against your will.

You were one of those who first introduced synthesizers and other electronics into jazz use. However, lately you have been performing more often with acoustic programs, although the technique has become much more advanced than in the days Return To Forever. Does this mean that you are disillusioned with electronics and consider them unsuitable for jazz music?

No, I have nothing against electronics, I just think that all this technology is much more useful at home than on stage. I use many devices and instruments - they make it easier for me to work with the score, but on stage I only take a Fender piano. Not because I’m not interested - it just entails too many additional technical difficulties, primarily with sound adjustment and coordination of performers.

VIDEO: Chick Corea with the new Return to Forever lineup at the festival in Montreux, Switzerland, 2008 - “Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy”
Chick Corea - electronic keyboards, Al DiMeola - guitar, Stanley Clarke - bass guitar, Lenny White - drums

On June 12, 1941, in the state of Massachusetts in a town called Chelsea, the famous jazz pianist Armando Anthony Corea, better known to the whole world under the pseudonym Chick Corea, was born. Some sources claim that his aunt gave it to him.

early years

WITH early childhood the future pianist was enveloped in music: his father played the trumpet, and the music of the great classics - Beethoven, Mozart - was often played in the house.

Chick Corea began mastering the piano at the age of four, his favorite performers were Bud Powell, . Corea learned a lot through self-education.

Youth years

At the age of 18, Chick sets out to conquer New York. At first he successfully entered Columbia University, but after a month he abandoned his studies. Next was an attempt to enter the Juilliard School of Music, but even here he became bored after two months of study.

Chick Corea, already famous, often recalled that musicians should communicate freely outside of formalized organizations. He attended lessons that he learned for a long time.

Carier start

My creative activity Chick started with the bands Mongo Santamaria and Vili Boobo, after which he played with trumpeter Blue Mitchell. By the way, he founded the group Tones for Joan’s Bones with him.

Corea repeatedly returned from electrojazz to acoustics

After that, he accompanied Sarah Vaughan for about a year, and even managed to record several records as a leader. Then he teamed up with the Miles Davis team, where he already played the electric piano. It was this fact that brought Corea a brilliant career, because Miles ushered in the era of jazz-rock with such musicians as John McLaughlin, Jack DeJohnette.

Chick Corea played with Joe Zawinul - the combination of the sound of their instruments gave wide publicity to the released albums. But Corea didn’t like this style, so he chose a different path. Chick Corea creates the avant-garde group Circle, which lasted three years until Chick changed his focus.

Chick Corea and Return to forever

At the same time, Chick was engaged in solo activities. In 1972, he released the album Return to Forever, which later became the name of his group.

At this time, Corea returned to the electric piano again - he played music with Latin motifs, at a flamenco tempo. Later, he decided to experiment and added a touch of rock, muting the Latin sounds.

Since 1973, Chick has been releasing a series of discs that brought him enormous popularity. In 1975, he was awarded his first Grammy for the album No Mistery.

The album of Chick Corea and Return to forever Romantic Warrior was included in

From electrojazz to acoustics

The 1970s changed a lot in Corea's life - he met singer Gail Moran, who would later become his wife. From New York he moved to California, and in 1996 they moved to the town of Clearwater, Florida. Gail supported her husband in everything.

Chick Corea's wife - Gail Moran

After the band's dissolution, Corea began playing acoustic music again, and in 1985 he was again attracted to electronic fusion themes. As a result, his new project The Chick Corea Elektric Band is born. It is interesting that the ensemble had two names at once; it was also called Chick Corea Akoustic Band.

Explaining his choice, he said that people under 45 years of age grew up listening to the music of Elvis Presley and The Beatles, so they are more comfortable with electronic music, and acoustic instruments are more to the liking of the older generation. It is worth noting that this division did not affect the quality of performance.

Own label Stretch Records

Corea dedicated the first disc on his own Stretch Records label to pianist Bud Powell

In 1992, Chick fulfilled his long-time dream by creating his own label, Stretch Records. At this time, he still had obligations to GRP Records, but already in 1996, upon completion of the contract, a set of 5 discs, Music forever & beyond, was released.

From that moment on, Chick was able to release his own records, and his debut release was a collection dedicated to pianist Bud Powell. During these years there was also collaboration with St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, led by . His ninth Grammy award came with his 1980 album Duet with Gary Burton.

Corea and Gary Burton

Since 1997, the musician has been forming new group on creating acoustic music. His live music album Origin was a huge success. After such changes, Chick returns to the classics again - in 1999 he plays with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. After the 2000s, Chick again revived the Elektric band.

After 5 years, Chick Corea returns to Latin motifs again in the Rhumba Flamenco project. 2007 was a very successful year for the pianist - he recorded 5 discs with various trios. In 2013, the tireless Corea created a new project under called The Vigil, with whom he tours throughout America. Chick Corea is one of the world's top ten.

Chick Corea is one of the most iconic figures among jazzmen of recent decades. Never satisfied with the results achieved, Corea is always completely passionate about several musical projects at once, and his musical curiosity never knows the limit. A virtuoso pianist who, along with Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett, was one of the top stylists to emerge since Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner, Corea is also one of the few “electric keyboardists” with an original and recognizable playing style. In addition, he is the author of several classic jazz standards, such as "Spain," "La Fiesta" and "Windows."

Corea began playing the piano when he was just 4 years old, and his main influences during his formative musical years were Horace Silver and Bud Powell. He gained serious musical experience by playing in the orchestras of Mongo Santamaria and Willie Bobo, Blue Mitchell, Herbie Mann and Stan Getz.

His debut recording as a band leader was the album "Tones For Joan's Bones" in 1966, and the album "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs", recorded as a trio with Miroslav Vitus and Roy Haynes in 1968, is regarded by music critics as a world-class album. jazz classics.

After a short period working with Sarah Vaughn, Corea joined Miles Davis as Hancock's replacement in the orchestra, and remained with Miles during the very important transition period of 1968-70. He participated in such impressive works of Miles as "Filles De Kilimanjaro", "In A Silent Way", "Bitches Brew".

As part of the band Circle with Anthony Braxton, Dave Holland and Barry Eltschul, he began playing avant-garde acoustic jazz after leaving Davis. And at the end of 1971 he changed direction again.

After leaving the Circle project, Corea briefly played with Stan Getz and then formed the group Return To Forever with Stanley Clarke, Joe Farrell, Airto and Flora Purim, which debuted in the spirit of the Brazilian melodic tradition. Within a year, Corea, with Clark, Bill Connors and Lenny White, tried to transform Return To Forever into a leading high-energy fusion band; in 1974, Al DiMeola took Connors' place. At a time when the music was rock-oriented and used jazz improvisations, Corea remained quite recognizable even under the veil of electronic sound.

After the group's breakup in the late 70s, Corea and Clark played in various orchestras, giving these groups special significance. Over the next few years, Corea mainly focused on acoustic sound and appeared in public either with the duo of Gary Burton and Herbie Hancock, or in the Michael Brecker Quartet, and even performed classical academic music.

In 1985, Chick Corea formed a new fusion group, the Elektric Band, which eventually included bassist John Patitucci, guitarist Frank Gambale, saxophonist Eric Marienthal and drummer Dave Wickle. A few years later he initiated his "Acoustic Trio" with Patitucci and Wickle.

During 1996-97, Corea toured as part of an all-star quintet, including Kenny Garrett and Wallacy Roney, who performed modern versions of compositions by Bud Powell and Thellonious Monk.

He currently plays music that masterfully interweaves complex passages of arrangements with solo parts in a fusion style. He returns the former strength to jazz, and each phase of it creative development perfectly represented by his discs.

The real name of the outstanding composer and performer is Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (Armando Anthony Corea). He was born in Chelsea (Massachusetts) in the summer of 1941 into a family of Italian immigrants who lived in a traditional town of that time, neighboring immigrants from Russia and Eastern Europe. “Chick’s” father is a shoemaker who enjoys jazz in his free time. It was he who began teaching his son music when he was barely 4 years old. By the way, all 13 children in this family had an ear for music and knew how to play one instrument or another. Armondo Anthony himself mastered the art of playing the piano, drums, percussion, and trumpet.

“Chick” gained more thorough musical experience by playing in the orchestras of Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo (1962-63), with Blue Mitchell (1964-66), Herbie Mann and Stan Getz. As the leader of his own group in 1966, he recorded the album “Tones for Joan's Bones.” And a couple of years later, the album “Now He Sings, Now He Sobs” was released, recorded in a trio, with Miroslav Vitus and Roy Hens. Today these compositions belong to the world jazz classics. A short period of cooperation with. Sarah Vaughn replaced by fruitful work (1968-70) as a member of the Miles Davis Orchestra, where Corea replaced Hancock. At this time, such well-known projects as “Filles de Kilimanjaro”, “In s Silent Way”, “Bitches Brew” were created.

Immediately after leaving Davis, the talented musician changed his preferences and began performing avant-garde acoustic jazz as part of the Circle group, where he was invited by Anthony Braxton, Dave Holland and Beri Eltluch. But at the end of 1971, Chick changed direction again: first, he briefly collaborated with Stan Getz, and then created his own group, Return to Forever. The group included Stanley Clarke, Joe Farrell, Flora Purim, who made her debut in the Brazilian jazz tradition. Over the next year, Corea and his musicians tried to perform exclusively high-energy fusion. It must be said that by that time (1974), rock and electronic sounds reigned in the world, but even underneath them jazz improvisations were easily discernible.

For these and other creative vacillations and inconsistency, music critics did not favor Corea. According to them, he more often than others changed styles, directions, instruments, trying to combine incompatible things, performing on the same evening with parallel programs. To date, the composer has more than 70 different albums, recorded in collaboration with such musicians as Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Bobby McFerrin, Bella Fleck and others. Since 1992, “Chick” has owned the Stretch Records record company and the Mad Hatter studio in Los Angeles, which generate good income. But a calm, “well-fed” life did not deprive him of his love of adventurism and the thirst to create something new, the desire to surprise listeners and critics. He has encyclopedic knowledge and knows how to apply his many talents in a variety of areas. During his career (data for 2015), the musician was nominated for a Grammy thirty-three times and this most prestigious American award 22 times, and also won the Latin Grammy Awards twice.

Corea visited the USSR in the 80s, and his visits were dictated not only by the desire to give concerts, but to get to know each other up close real life in Soviet Union. In 2001, he returned again to perform in the Great Hall of the Conservatory, raising money to renovate this room with unique acoustics. In 2007, his concert took place at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, where he performed with Bella Fleco (banjo), and four years later “Chick” played with Harry Barton (vibraphone) in the Svetlanov Hall of the International House of Music.

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Chick Korea 75 years old // Essay by Mikhail Alperin

Chick inspired generations of musicians to find their own voice in this world of imitations. I was one of those who immediately fell in love with his “voice”.

I still consider the "Children song" solo piano album to be a unique example of the fusion of improvisational music and composer's thought.

I even wrote once, many years ago, a parody of Nikolai Levinovsky, called “Latin American Birches or a Letter to Mother Chick Korea”

Yes, I was a fighter for my own original voice in Moscow, where everything domestic in those years was exotic, and the pseudo-American jazz of Kozlov and Levinovsky was perceived as a “company”, such as jeans and Coca Cola.

At that time my own way I was just beginning, but my inner voice protested against counterfeits in any area of ​​life. I still think so now.

Chick Korea surprised me with his talent at the beginning, and I lost interest in him quite quickly due to the fact that he did not evolve as a musician over the years, but on the contrary

succumbed to the American mentality of entertaining, and nothing more. He is an example for all of us of how the music market absorbs talent, and the dollar becomes a religion.

Few people can disagree with society.

I am one of the minority.

The public and the history of music always remember not the success of the musicians, but the message that each artist must convey through sounds in his own way, with sounds or words.

Music is not entertainment, but a healing tool for the spiritual education of a person.

A person needs healing and transmeditative immersion in sound for a constant experience of communication with the subtle worlds.

When a musician, like the great Chick Korea, is focused on entertainment and dance as the only means of relaxation after the hard work of the “common man,” I want to ask Chick, are you really sure that everyone is so tired after work that they are only ready to dance to the sounds of Latin music? -American jazz?

You clearly don’t underestimate the public, just like yourself, I think.

Chick is sure that we, musicians, in this “hard world” are called upon to distract people from sad thoughts.

Do you see how primitive the master thinks?

This old school division between serious and frivolous art must soon disappear.

Without awareness of these processes by each person individually, it will not be easy to do this.

Chick Corea discography (as of 2016)

As leader or co-leader:

• Tones for Joan's Bones (1966)
• Bliss! (1968), first released as Turkish Women at the Bath (1967) under Pete La Roca's name
• Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (1968)
• Is (1969)
• Sundance (1969)
• The Song of Singing (1970)
• Circulus (1970)
• A.R.C. (1971)
• Paris Concert (1971)
• Piano Improvisations Vol. 1 (1971)
• Piano Improvisations Vol. 2 (1972)
• Return to Forever (1972, ECM)
• Inner Space (1972)
• Crystal Silence (1973, with Gary Burton)
• Chick Corea (1975)
• The Leprechaun (1976)
• My Spanish Heart (1976)
• The Mad Hatter (1978)
• An Evening with Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea: In Concert (1978)
• Secret Agent (1978)
• Friends (1978)
• Delphi I (1979)
• Corea Hancock (1979)
• Duet (1979, with Gary Burton)
• Chick Corea & Lionel Hampton in Concert (1980, with Lionel Hampton)
• In Concert, Zürich, October 28, 1979 (1980, with Gary Burton)
• Delphi II & III (1980)
• Tap Step (1980)
• Greatest Hits of 1790 (1980, with Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York, conducted by Richard Kapp. Featured piano soloist on Mozart: "Elvira Madigan" and Beethoven: "Für Elise")
• Live in Montreux (1981)
• Three Quartets (1981)
• Trio Music (1981)
• Touchstone (1982)
• Lyric Suite for Sextet (1982, with Gary Burton)
• Again and Again (1983)
• On Two Pianos (1983, with Nicolas Economou)
• The Meeting (1983, with Friedrich Gulda)
• Children's Songs (1984)
• Fantasy for Two Pianos with Friedrich Gulda (1984)
• Voyage - with Steve Kujala (1984)
• Septet (1985)
• The Chick Corea Electric Band (1986)
• Light Years (1987, with Elektric Band)
• Trio Music Live in Europe (1987)
• Summer Night - live (1987, with Akoustic Band)
• Chick Corea Featuring Lionel Hampton (1988)
• Eye of the Beholder (1988, with Elektric Band)
• Chick Corea Akoustic Band (1989)
• Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown (1989)
• Inside Out (1990, with Elektric Band)
• Beneath the Mask (1991, with Elektric Band)
• Alive (1991, with Akoustic Band)
• Play (1992, with Bobby McFerrin)
• Elektric Band II: Paint the World (1993)
• Seabreeze (1993)
• Expressions (1993)
• Time Warp (1995)
• The Mozart Sessions (1996, with Bobby McFerrin)
• Live from Elario's (First Gig) (1996, with Elektric Band)
• Live from Blue Note Tokyo (1996)
• Live from the Country Club (1996)
• From Nothing (1996)
• Remembering Bud Powell (1997)
• Native Sense - The New Duets (1997, with Gary Burton)
• Live at the Blue Note (1998, with Origin)
• A Week at the Blue Note (1998, with Origin)
• Like Minds (1998, with Gary Burton, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes , Dave Holland)
• Change (1999, with Origin)
• Corea Concerto – Spain for Sextet & Orchestra – Piano Concerto No. 1 (1999, with Origin)
• Corea Concerto (1999)
• Solo Piano - Originals (2000)
• Solo Piano - Standards (2000)
• New Trio: Past, Present & Futures (2001)
• Rendezvous in New York (2003)
• To the Stars (2004, with Elektric Band)
• Rhumba Flamenco (2005)
• The Ultimate Adventure (2006)
• Super Trio (2006, with Steve Gadd and Christian McBride)
• The Enchantment (2007, with Bela Fleck)
• 5trios - 1. Dr. Joe (2007, with Antonio Sanchez, John Patitucci)
• 5trios - 2. From Miles (2007, with Eddie Gómez, Jack DeJohnette)
• 5trios - 3. Chillin" in Chelan (2007, with Christian McBride, Jeff Ballard)
• 5trios - 4. The Boston Three Party (2007, with Eddie Gomez, Airto Moreira)
• 5trios - 5. Brooklyn, Paris to Clearwater (2007, with Hadrien Feraud, Richie Barshay)
• The New Crystal Silence (2008, with Gary Burton)
• Five Peace Band Live (2009, with John McLaughlin)
• Duet (2009, with Hiromi Uehara)
• Orvieto (ECM, 2011) with Stefano Bollani
• Forever (2011)
• Further Explorations (2012) with Eddie Gomez and Paul Motian
• Hot House (2012) with Gary Burton
• The Vigil (2013) with Hadrien Feraud, Marcus Gilmore, Tim Garland and Charles Altura
• Trilogy (2013) (Universal, 3CD live)
• Solo Piano - Portraits (2014)
• Two (with Bela Fleck)(2015)

• Circling In (1970)
• Circulus (1970)
• Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert (1970)
• Paris Concert (1971)
• Circle 2: Gathering (1971)

With Return to Forever

• Return to Forever (1972)
• Light as a Feather (1972)
• Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy (1973)
• Where Have I Known You Before (1974)
• No Mystery (1975)
• Romantic Warrior (1976)
• Musicmagic (1977)
• Live (1977)
• Return to Forever - Returns (2009)
• Return to Forever Returns: Live at Montreux (DVD) (2009)
• The Mothership Returns (2012) with Jean-Luc Ponty

With Anthony Braxton

• The Complete Braxton 1971 (Freedom, 1977)

With Marion Brown

• Afternoon of a Georgia Faun (ECM, 1970)

With Donald Byrd

• The Creeper (Blue Note, 1967)

With Stanley Clarke

• Children of Forever (Polydor, 1973)
• Journey to Love (Nemperor Records, 1975)
• Rocks, Pebbles and Sand (Epic, 1980)

Spaces (Vanguard, 1970)

With Miles Davis

• Water Babies (Columbia 1976, recorded 1967-68)
• Filles de Kilimanjaro (Columbia, 1969)
• In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969)
• Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (Columbia Legacy released 2013)
• Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970)
• A Tribute to Jack Johnson (Columbia, 1970)
• Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West (Columbia, 1977, recorded 1970)
• Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East (Columbia, 1970)
• Miles at the Fillmore - Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Columbia Legacy released 2014)
• Circle in the Round (Columbia, 1979, recorded 1955-70)
• Live-Evil (Columbia, 1971)
• On the Corner (Columbia, 1972)
• Big Fun (Columbia, 1974)

With Richard Davis

• The Philosophy of the Spiritual (Cobblestone, 1971)

With Joe Farrell

• Joe Farrell Quartet (1970)
• Outback (CTI, 1971)
• Skate Board Park (1979)

• Sweet Rain (Verve, 1969)
• Captain Marvel (Verve, 1972)

With Herbie Hancock

• Gershwin's World (Verve, 1998)

With Joe Henderson

• Relaxin" at Camarillo (Contemporary, 1979)
• Mirror Mirror (Pausa, 1980)
• Big Band (Verve, 1996)

With Elvin Jones

• Merry-Go-Round (1971)

• Echoes of an Era (1982)

• To Hear Is to See! (Prestige, 1969)
• Consciousness! (Prestige, 1970)

• Going to the Rainbow (1971)

With Pete La Roca

• Turkish Women at the Bath (1967), reissued under Corea's name as Bliss (1973)

With Hubert Laws

• The Laws of Jazz (Atlantic, 1964)
• Flute By-Laws (Atlantic, 1966)
• Laws" Cause (Atlantic, 1968)
• Wild Flower (Atlantic, 1972)

With Herbie Mann

• Herbie Mann Plays The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd (Atlantic, 1965)
• Monday Night at the Village Gate (Atlantic, 1965)
• Latin Mann (Columbia, 1965)
• Standing Ovation at Newport (Atlantic, 1965)

With Blue Mitchell

• The Thing to Do (1964)
• Down with It! (Blue Note, 1965)
• Boss Horn (Blue Note, 1966)

With Tete Montoliu

• Lunch in L.A. (Contemporary, 1980)

With Airto Moreira

• Free (CTI, 1972)

• Manhattan Latin (Decca, 1964)

Wayne Shorter

• Moto Grosso Feio (Blue Note, 1970)

With Sonny Stitt

• Stitt Goes Latin (Roost, 1963)

With John Surman

• Conflagration (Dawn, 1971)

With Gábor Szabó

• Femme Fatale (Pepita, 1979)

• Soul Burst (Verve, 1966)

With Miroslav Vitous

• Universal Syncopations (ECM, 2003)

With Sadao Watanabe

• Round Trip (1974)

• 1976: Chick Corea/Herbie Hancock/Keith Jarret/McCoy Tyner (Atlantic)
• 1987: Chick Corea Compact Jazz (Polydor)
• 1993: Best of Chick Corea (Blue Note)
• 2002: Selected Recordings (ECM)
• 2002: The Complete "Is" Sessions (Blue Note)
• 2004: Very Best of Chick Corea (Universal)
• 2007: Herbie Mann-Chick Corea: The Complete Latin Band Sessions

Chick Corea with the "Solo Piano" program at the Moscow Philharmonic