We lost a true innovator when Chick Corea departed terra firma last week at 80. Cancer.
One of a handful of artists who transformed jazz in the '70s and '80s, Chick started out playing keys with a who's who of jazz greats, joined the Miles Davis Band, went on to form the seminal fusion band Return to Forever...and then started playing with everybody.
While he is better known for several other standards, it's his love of the pure democracy of a jazz performance that drives me to feature Mongo Santamaria's Afro Blue on this Music Friday in which we honor the joy he brought so many. This track perfectly encapsulates how I'll remember him...playing with artists I grew up listening to like Herbie Hancock, John MacLaughlin, Carlos Santana, Wayne Shorter and several more.
You want to go deeper? There are scores of full-length concert videos on YouTube...and there is this documentary, featuring the best of a 48-concert homestand a decade ago in which he played with 10 different bands and 27 different musicians (and some of the biggest names on the planet).
RIP, Armando.
One Helluva music pioneer!
Posted by: Lee T | February 22, 2021 at 10:48