Tag: chick corea

Chick Corea

We’ve lost another giant. Chick Corea passed away a couple of days ago. Cancer. Again.

That’s Chelsea, MA native Chick Corea to be clear.

I’ve always been ashamed of myself for never being enough of a jazz guy. I played sax and went to music school for crying out loud, I should have been more of a jazz guy. I guess rock and roll and blues were just too much fun for me to pull my attention away for too long.

I did have a thing for Fusion though. It’s hard to be a Prog Rock fan and not at least dip your toes into the Fusion world. As a guitar player, my connection to Chick Corea came via Al Di Meola. Al was a teenager when he joined Chick’s Fusion band, Return to Forever, and the handful of records they made together were spectacular. Chick played on some early Di Meola solo records too.

Ironically (maybe?) the first thing I think of when I think of Chick Corea is the title track from Return To Forever’s Romantic Warrior. Ironically because Fusion is meant to be an electric genre, but that song is acoustic and it is brilliant beyond measure.

I am honoring this legend’s memory right now by giving the Romantic Warrior album a spin. I suggest you do the same. If you like your music played at a level of virtuosity that makes mortal humans’ heads explode then this is the record for you. Chick’s playing on that record is the kind of thing where you can imagine The God of Keyboard Players listening to it and thinking, damn that guy is awesome.

Rest in Peace, Chick Corea. The music world has lost another hero, but we still have all of the music to listen back to when we want to remember just how good we had it when you were around.

Is That How It Goes?

I’m sitting at my desk.  My wife is sitting at her desk right next to me.  She started laughing a little and then put on some music.  The first song was one that my band plays. It was odd… I learned it by listening to a recording of the band with their previous guitar player.  I don’t think I had ever listened to the original recording.  It was weird… I don’t even come remotely close to what was on the record.

That song ends and another comes one.  Same thing.  A song my band covers.  This time what caught my ear was more tone based as I played the same part just much, much heavier.  Then the chorus kicked in and my backing vocal was off by a whole octave.

The third song she played… also one my band covers.  I asked her, did you make a Lizardfish playlist?  She just laughed.  I love her so much.  Again, what I play and what I hear on that record… not the same thing at all.

Damn it, Robert.  Do you play anything right?  Why haven’t you been kicked out yet?

Then someone on Facebook posted this image:

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First off, Chick Corea is a genius.  Okay, now that I’ve said that, I have no idea if this was really written by him.  It feels like things that a jazz legend would consider, especially the parts about knowing when to just shut the hell up.  I wish I could do that, but I just can’t wrap my brain around it.  Even when I’m supposed to be silent I am still throwing noise into the mess.  Bad, Robert.  Bad.  Anyway, the one that sticks out to me also validates all the screwing around I do within the confines of my little cover band.

9. Guide your choice of what to play by what you like – not what someone else will think.

I’ve never met Chick Corea.  Return to Forever’s Romantic Warrior album is godlike.  Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew is beyond what humanity should ever have been able to accomplish.  More than any of that though, #9 on that list is, in my mind, the most important lesson a musician can learn.  Be a human being.  Don’t be a jukebox.  Do what speaks to you.  Don’t worry about what others will think.  I told you the guy was a genius.