Pianists React to Chick Corea 

It's a, bad idea to try and swing at that tempo because you'll fall behind, if you want that dotted 8th-note feel. Therefore, the faster we play, the more straight the 8th notes get. That doesn't mean the music doesn't swing as a whole, but the dotted feel is gone.

Yes, most of Chick’s playing is based more on straight 8ths and often a Latin feel which isn’t swung. Has a rolling feel even when it get angular… 😊

For what purpose? Pointers? OK. Reading someone else's work is incomparable to transcribing yourself.

@@LasseBoogieJensen yessir !!!

I agree man. Young, spunky jazz nerd Chick is where it’s at. Haha! I do dig his Jazz Fusion exploits with Return to Forever (anything after Light as a Feather). He displays a funky savior faire during that time that I never would’ve thought he had in him after hearing this. It’s too spacy and cerebral for me at times but there are a ton of great tracks. I love Where Have I Known You Before in particular (the album). Edit: now that I think about it, most of the Return to Forever tracks that I love the most are written by Stanley Clarke. Haha.

Think what makes a great musician is the ability to evolve, he made music to the times and always kept it playful. He’d be doing a fusion album while also recording a jazz album then maybe a flamenco album the man did not stop 😅. While also inspiring a generation of young musicians and keyboard players. What more could you want 😂

thats the POINT my friend !!he DIDNT EVOLVE NATURALLY !! the terrible anti art philosophies of the church cult PREVENTED HIS NATURAL CREATIVE EVOLUTION !! if you know his genius early work from 1966 to 1971v you CANT SAY THAT WHAT FOLLOWED WITH HIS HISTORICALLY IMMENSE CREATIVE U TURN WITH THAT CRAPPY RETURN TO FOREVER THE HORRIBLE AND TASTELESS ROMANTIC WARRIOR ETC I KNEW HIM WELL ,,ITS A TRAGEDY ,,LOVED HIS BEST MUSIC @@MightyFLM

I've been fortunate enough to play with Chick and can tell you, he is the real deal. That guy is pure music, so full of intent and playfulness, and also very humble and with grace. His thing with Scientology fascinated me. His history and connection are very well recorded. Of course I have opinions on Scientology, but what I find so fascinating is that I get the genuine impression that Chick might have been one of the few guys for which it actually worked and helped shape him tremendously. Now if that is just the impression he made to the outside world to keep up with appearances or if it truly is the case, only Chick will know. But while you might not like his post 1972 work (though I would ask you, seriously? the immense depth and breath of his back catalog is mind boggeling, I really wouldn't see why there wouldn't be anything up to your liking after 1972, I mean did you try the trio recordings on ECM as mentioned in the video? Did you try his work with Ballard and Cohen? Or his trio work with Brian Blade and Christian McBride? Three Quartets with Mike Brecker? ), I understand and clearly see the shift he made. The circumstances of that time is that he was with ARC which is pretty avant garde and far out there. Just from my own small experience with him, he really wants to connect, bring joy with music, and have joy himself. I think that changing his attitude towards playing for joy and bringing something positive to the world was for the best because it gave a lot of purpose and intent to his playing and basically made him among the greats of his generation. His stint with Stan Getz and then forming Return to Forever was the starting point of that attitude towards playing. Sharing your love and joy of music with others is a great gift and what he left behind is a testament to that. The outpour when he passed was unlike anything I have seen, his music apparently touched so many and not just in the jazz scene. What struck me most were the long eulogies posted by all the people who are exactly not part of the jazz scene. I think it speaks volumes about Chick. There is a humanity in him which he shares and manifests with his music and I tend to believe that his stint with Scientology had a part in that (even though I wouldn't even touch Scientology with a stick from a far myself an see it as a corrupt pyramid scheme). Im not sure how you can call that "compromised intentions". At least how I see it is that it's not a matter of corrupting yourself for for example commercial gain. I don't think he went commercial, I think most of his music and compositions are still pretty complex, many of it not for the casual (easy) listening or as background music. He has had his weak moments and albums (or at least in my subjective opinion and taste). I think it's inevitable for someone basically being in the business for over 50 years. But I saw Chick in 2017 with Gomez and Blade (trio) and also with his quintet (including Kenny Garett and Wallace Rooney), that stuff still sounded fresh, creative, inventive. Just like Now he sings now he sobs. So maybe you can explain how you think his intentions have changed in such a way that they have become compromised for the worst?

thanks for your long interesting comments since you have said that you played with chick i ask you your name and what instrument you play and where did you play with him ?? my name is richie beirach ,im a jazz pianist and composer and i was good friends with chick fro 1967 until 1973 ,,i saw the whole thing happen with him getting taken in by the church cult crap ,he did one of the worst unfortunate creative u turns in music history ,from his genius masterful cds like song of singing and now´he sings to the commercial empty bland crap of return to forever hymn of the 7th galaxy etc and worse ,,of course he could still play the piano well ,,but he INTENTIONALLY DUMMED DOWN AND SIMPLYIFIED THE ENTIRE DIRECTION OF HIS MUSIC ACCORDING TO SCIENTOLOGY PHILOSOPHY it was tragic and we will never know what he could have done without the evil controlling influence of the churcjh cult garbage he was so locked into ,,his earlier genius work WAS more difficult for the average musician to understand and appreciate but I ME DAVE LIEBMAN STEVE GROSSMAN RANDY BRECKER ETC ETC ALL LOVED THE EARLY CHICKS MUSIC it doesnt MATTER that he wanted to connect with his music to large numbers of people because the music that he choose to connect with was fundamentally watered down insipid lame crap ,!!he deprived the world of what his natural genius would have developed into ,,too bad @@santibanks

While I don’t love everything he did post-Scientology, I personally find Corea from the Akoustic band studio album on (‘89-2021) to be his best era. His vocab went way up, he was in a league of his on the last 30 years.

Ok

for reals?

You need to work on your ear training then

It’s not super intuitive from the head, but once chick starts soloing just listen to the bass and you’ll find the form. Once you have that, then chick’s improvising makes a lot more sense

Huh?

Prime example of an idiot that wants geniuses to stoop to his level and play careless whisper..

This is from friggin’ 1968. He’s about 25. There’s a bunch of melody in the solo, and some of it is specifically in the interplay within the band. I invite you to cite more than a half dozen better trio records….

George Z, i agree with woodygould - there's plenty of melody going. This is Jazz, it's a much deeper and broader playing field, more like a language. Like certain tastes - salty, sweet, sour - not everyone likes the same. Chick is/was/is a master, laymen and experts agree, his history and legacy speak for themselves. It's cool if some people don't like many notes, we're talking about music here - not bombs and bullets or radiation... ✌

you must be tone deaf because there was plenty of sharp melody in there