CHICK COREA
Solo Piano – Originals, Part One
Stretch
SCD-9029-2

Solo Piano – Standards, Part Two
Stretch
SCD-9028-2

A confession: I pretty much lost interest in Chick Corea’s music in the mid-70s, after guitarist Bill Connors left his fusion band, Return to Forever. I vastly prefer Corea’s pre-RTF trio recordings on Blue Note and ECM to anything else he’s done since. My interest was piqued by his return to acoustic jazz in the early 80s, but I have paid no attention to any of Corea’s solo piano recordings, nor have I heard any of his small group recordings for GRP and ECM from the past decade or so. As far as solo piano recordings are concerned, Corea is not just an old hand, he is a true pioneer. He recorded his first solo piano LP (Piano Improvisations, Vol. 1) seven months before Keith Jarrett recorded Facing You. My guess is that anyone who has heard Corea’s previous solo piano recordings knows what to expect. Pretty much all of the material on Originals (a live recording, by the way) has appeared elsewhere in Corea’s recorded canon, in a variety of configurations. As unfamiliar as I am with anything Corea has done since about 1984 I have definitely heard many of these themes before. Yet, I have to admit he has chosen well, as none of this material seems shopworn. Better yet, Corea’s performances are, as one might expect, highly skilled and quite spirited. He is adept at changing moods and rhythmic emphasis to sustain drama and interest, as on "Brasilia" and "Yellow Nimbus," for example. Corea even goes inside the piano with an empty water glass for some interesting prepared piano-type sounds on the final track. Though the two Scriabin transcriptions ("Prelude #4" and "Prelude #2" from Opus 11) definitely have the feel of classical piano performances, an air of formality pervades this disc. This is broken only during "The Chase," one of a series of four brief, spontaneously improvised pieces based on concepts supplied on-the-spot by audience members.

The Standards CD is a bit looser and less formal. Corea’s musical choices are telling: four Monk compositions, two by Bud Powell, a piece by Ary Barroso, and a clutch of the usual sort of tunes we expect to hear on a recording titled Standards. I especially enjoyed Corea’s renditions of the Monk pieces. Here, he offers fresh interpretations that belie an unusually deep understanding of the harmonic and rhythmic vagaries that Monk liked to employ. Powell’s thorough knowledge of the classical piano repertoire fascinates Corea, as do his complex, multi-tiered compositions. Corea rises to the occasion to produce some riveting solo piano music on both Powell compositions, "Dusk in Sandi" and "Oblivion." The rest of Standards is quite accomplished and, at times, quite inventive, though I found it harder to maintain interest in the ballads. Though both discs will assuredly please his fans, Corea’s focussed, formal approach on Originals yields a more engaging, entertaining result.

Dave Wayne

Solo Piano – Originals, Part One Track Listing: 1. Brasilia; 2. Yellow Nimbus; 3. Prelude #4, Opus 1; 4. Prelude #2, Opus 11; 5. Children’s Song #6; 6. Children’s Song #10; 7. Armando’s Rhumba; 8. April Snow; 9. The Chase; 10. The Falcon; 11. Swedish Landscape; 12. Spain; 13. Children’s Song #12

Solo Piano – Standards, Part Two Track Listing: 1. Monk’s Dream; 2. But Beautiful; 3. Blue Monk; 4. Ask Me Now; 5. Thinking of You; 6. Yesterdays; 7. Dusk in Sandi; 8. It Could Happen to You; 9. ‘Round Midnight; 10. So In Love; 11. How Deep is the Ocean; 12. Oblivion; 13. Brazil

Personnel: Chick Corea, piano