Another personal hero gone. Chick Corea, the jazz pianist, died this week, aged 79. He became famous when he played with Miles Davis in the late 1960s (in a band which for a period featured 3 electric pianos - Herbie Hancocks, Keith Jarrett and Corea, which some might say is at least 2 too many...).
Then, of course, he became a leading light in his own right in the Jazz Fusion thing, which divided the world neatly into those who felt it wasn't proper jazz at all and those who felt it didn't quite make it as rock music either. I was playing a couple of his CDs this morning, and it occurred to me that the 1990s was longer ago than I had thought. Good, though.
Here's a track that I like. Thanks from me, Chick. Rest easy.
I saw him in concert in '89. A birthday present from a couple of friends. An amazing trio about as far removed from dinnertime music as one can get. Dynamic cannot describe the experience.
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Stokes
Excellent - that would be the trio with Dave Weckl and John Patitucci? I never saw him live - don't think he came to Europe very often - apparently he got a fair amount of hassle (especially in Germany) because he was a follower of Scientology - I don't have a view on that - as far as I know he kept his beliefs to himself. Miles Davis' trio of electric pianists is not doing too well - Jarrett had a couple of strokes in 2018 and can't play any more. Not sure how Hancocks (who I think is the oldest of the three) is doing - scared to look now!
DeleteThis is maybe a bit morbid, but when someone like Corea passes away, I can't help thinking, all that energy and creativity - where have they gone?
A splendid track Tony...
ReplyDeleteIt actually had me thinking about Bo Hansson.... someone who I haven’t listened to in decades...
I am/maybe showing my age but I think a lot of current music has lost that ‘easy’ inventiveness that you get from these ‘classic’ musicians ...
All the best. Aly
Hi Aly - you prompted me to have a listen to Bo Hansson again - thanks for that.
DeleteI'm always a little nervous (out of self-respect, mostly) that nostalgia partly comes down to the fact that I've become too old and tired to listen to new stuff any more, but the 1980s-90s produced some truly excellent contemporary jazz - original and excited about itself. I listened a lot to Mike Mainieri, and John Scofield, the Brecker Brothers, Pat Metheny and so many others. Some of it seems cheesey now - Spiro Gira and the Rippingtons (among others) are identifiable as just (very good) pop music, over-synthesized but beautifully played, and I can't hear that any more without thinking of mullet haircuts and guys with their jacket sleeves rolled up à la Miami Vice.
There is some great music coming out now, and some brilliant talent, but it's all been compromised by the public culture of The X Factor - the objective is to be rich, famous and beautiful - being good or artistically satisfying has dropped off a bit as a driver. Mind you, back in the Fusion days, there were people like Al De Miola and Larry Coryell, who confused art with athletics and made a lot of noise just to impress the plonkers (and make money, of course).
One big advantage of the 1980s period was that the emerging stars in jazz were people who had started their training with a serious groundwork of bebop and genuine intellectualism. They maybe weren't pretty, and they almost certainly didn't wear the right training shoes.
Nowadays I listen to all sorts of things - a lot of classical music, a lot of 1930s and 40s big band stuff, a HUGE LOT of Bill Evans and Stan Getz, and all manner of vocalists. And, of course, Django - who is something else again, and a lot of jump bands and "race label" R&B from the 1940s. No wonder I don't have much time left over for new things!
I haven't listened to my one Chic Corea lp since the 70s but not to long ago I listened to Bo Hannsen's Lord of the Rings. Its good that the nusic lingers.
DeleteHi Ross - I hadn't realised that Hannson made so few records. It's a funny thing - we live in an age of data retrieval - you can find just about anything - including outtakes of famous recordings where the lady with the tea trolley interrupts the trumpet solo. Yet, somehow, this is all very much a niche market - anything recorded more than about 10 seconds ago is uncool and not trending at all. I guess the human race is still just as lumpen, behind the tech. Maybe more than ever.
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