Polley show: the music of Chick Corea

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Polley Music Library radio program on KZUM. For those
unfamiliar, the Polley Music Library is a public music library located on the 2 floor of the
nd

Bennett Martin library downtown at 14 and N streets. The Polley Music Library is a service of
th

Lincoln City Libraries funded by the Lillian Helms Polley Trust. We have books about classical
music, jazz, rock, pop, blues, musicals, folk, hip hop, sacred music, and musical traditions from
around the world. And we have books about music education, music therapy, environmental
sound and field recordings, music production, recording, mixing and mastering, record
collecting, music theory, the ins and outs of the music business—you name it! Stop by any time
Bennett Martin Public Library is open, and you can check out materials with your library card!

As I mentioned on the last show, this weekend we’ll be looking at the life and work of the mega-
influential jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea, who passed away a couple of weeks ago.
Corea’s contributions to jazz are doubtlessly going to be remembered for a long time to come,
as his contributions were part of some pivotal moments in the development of jazz. Early in his
career (in the mid-60s), he was playing in a fairly traditional big band style, and was a sideman
with artists like Stan Getz and Herbie Mann. By the time of his 1968 solo album, Now He Sings,
Now He Sobs, he had developed an expansive solo piano vocabulary, and it seemed like he
could become the next Bill Evans or someone of that caliber behind the piano.

But the next thing you know, he’s part of the group of musicians that changed the course of jazz
by introducing interesting new rock and popular influences in Miles Davis band. By then he’s
swapped the acoustic piano for a Fender Rhoades, he’s taken Herbie Hancock’s old spot, and
the next thing you know he’s on the legendary Bitches Brew album, arguably the beginning of
jazz fusion, and one of the most revered jazz records of all time. He would go on to play both
experimental forms of jazz, more traditional jazz, and lots more fusion, with his band Return To
Forever being one of the leaders in the fusion movement.

With so many musical approaches at his disposal, it can be a little daunting to get into the music
of Chick Corea for the uninitiated. However, we have an awesome book here at Polley called
“Experiencing Chick Corea: A Listener’s Companion” by Monika Herzig that is a fantastic
biography and listening guide in one. Just as the title suggests, this book stops frequently to
focus on particular songs or albums from Corea’s discography, getting into deeper analysis and
context for what you’re hearing at the time. But in between, the book really functions like an
excellent biography of his work, too, with lots of details about the hows and whys of his
exploring different musical styles, and how it all works together. The section on the band Circle,
for example, introduces all of the unique circumstances behind the band’s short but fiery
existence playing basically free jazz but for the mellow and sometimes ambient record label
ECM. Interestingly, the band was likely cut short not because of musical or personal conflicts,
but as fallout from Corea’s being banned from Germany during their tenure because of his
association with Scientology.

After this period, Corea releases some solo piano albums, then starts the fusion band Return to
Forever, which ultimately exists in 2 kinds of interations: one more acoustic and one more
electric in nature. Is later bands continue this trend, as he runs a “Chick Corea Elektric Band”
and an “Acoustik Band” in the 80s. And he ultimately goes on to do all kinds of duo and trio
projects with a wide range of musicians mostly from the jazz world. In “Experiencing Chick
Corea,” you’ll find at least a paragraph or two describing all of these albums, and when you’re
looking at someone who has done such a wide range of music, this can be of great assistance
in finding the records that you’re most likely to enjoy. And once you have a list of those going,
be sure to check that against the Lincoln City Libraries website, too, as we have quite a few of
his CDs available in the branches around the city.

Let’s check out a few excerpts of his music here, too. And I’ll start with one that’s related to a
book of Chick Corea sheet music that you can borrow from the Polley Music Library. That book
is called “Children’s Songs,” and it’s made of a series of small etude-like pieces that Corea
wrote between 1971 and 1980. The book has been compared at times to Bela Bartok’s
“Mikrokosmos” books of etudes. The pieces generally get progressively more difficult, but are
fairly easy to get started playing, and they have a similar kind of focus on creating short and
distinctive little sound worlds. In addition to publishing them together in a book, Corea used
many of the pieces on his own albums, taking the written songs as a starting point for further
improvisation. Here’s an example of Children’s Song #6 being played as a duet between Corea
and jazz banjo extraordinaire Bela Fleck, from their 2007 album, “The Enchantment.”

Bela Fleck and Chick Corea – Children’s Song # 6 – The Enchantment – Concord Records,
2007 – 3:57  starts at  4:36

Next, we’ll check out a piece by the group Circle, which I mentioned a little in the introduction. In
Circle, Corea is joined by Anthony Braxton on reeds, David Holland on bass and cello, and
Barry Altschul on percussion. This music is arguably as “far-out” as Corea generally got with his
playing, though his colleagues in Circle continued to play in free jazz circles later in their
careers. This is an excerpt of a piece from their Paris Concert record recorded in 1971 and
released in 72. The tune Circle’s take on the Wayne Shorter standard, “Nefertiti.”

Circle - Nefertiti (excerpt) - Paris Concert  1972, ECM  8:13  starts at    9:02

We’ll end with one more piece that showcases Corea’s strengths as a composer. In 1981, he
released the album “Three Quartets,” which features more through-composed musical forms
using a vocabulary somewhere between jazz and early-modern classical sounds. It’s a kind of
impressionistic jazz take on classical forms, you might say. Here’s Quartet number 3 from that
album:

Chick Corea - Quartet No. 3 - Three Quartets - Stretch Records, 1981 9:36   starts at   17:38

 
 
 
I hope you enjoyed this introduction to the music of Chick Corea! And remember: we have lots
of other music books, histories, biographies, and much more for a huge variety of musical
styles. And it’s all free with your library card! Any questions? I’m always glad to help. You can
reach me at polley@lincolnlibraries.org, or call the Polley Music Library at 402-441-8520.
Thanks for tuning in, and I hope to see you at the library soon!
 
Pledge rap:
We really appreciate all of the support our community has given to KZUM, especially during this
crazy pandemic year that we’ve all endured. Despite all of the uncertainty our world throws at
us, you have been there to listen to the station, just like we have been there to play music and
communicate important information all year long. If you can make a donation, please do so at
kzum.org, or by calling 402-474-5086 extension 1. Let’s keep community radio thriving in
Lincoln. Thank you for listening during our birthday drive! This current health pandemic has
changed all of our lives. But one thing you can always count on is KZUM on the airwaves. That
is in large part due to you making a contribution year after year, for 43 years as of this weekend.
We are happy to broadcast great music, produce compelling and informative podcasts, and
provide daily information about vital resources so that we can all continue to thrive here in
Lincoln. But we need your help to keep this station going. Like all of you, KZUM has tightened
the belt to weather this storm. We have been able to stay on air by allowing only essential
personnel in the studio, and following a strict cleaning regimen. Head to kzum.org to make that
contribution to help keep KZUM on the air. We’re grateful for your help, and excited to keep
bringing you vital information, great music, and familiar voices.