Concord Music Group to Showcase The Work of Jazz Legend Chick Corea (2 Disc Set)

Collection to be released June 7, 2011 in celebration of Corea’s 70th birthday.

Since
his earliest recordings in the 1960s, pianist, keyboardist, and
composer Chick Corea has consistently taken the creative process to a
level that transcends conventional musical doctrines. After spending his
formative years with artists as diverse as Miles Davis, Herbie Mann,
Stan Getz, and Sarah Vaughan, Corea helped redefine the boundaries of
jazz as a founding member of the acclaimed Return To Forever, one of the
most innovative and daring jazz fusion collectives of the last
half-century. In more recent decades, as the leader of numerous projects
that have explored various aspects of the musical landscape, he
continues to be an influential force in modern jazz.

In
celebration of Corea’s 70th birthday this summer, Concord Music Group
provides a look back at three decades’ worth of brilliant recordings in
The Definitive Chick Corea on Stretch and Concord. The sweeping two-disc
collection — the latest in CMG’s ongoing Definitive series — begins
with some of Corea’s best sessions with Stretch in the early 1980s and
follows him through the end of the century to his work on Concord up to
2009. The Definitive Chick Corea on Stretch and Concord is set for
release on June 7, 2011, just days ahead of the artist’s 70th birthday
on June 12.

The collection is being released simultaneously with
Forever, a new two-disc electric/acoustic set that Corea recorded live
with Return To Forever bandmates Stanley Clarke and Lenny White — along
with, on disc two, a few high-profile guests (Chaka Khan, Jean-Luc
Ponty, and Bill Connors) — during a world tour in 2009. A previously
unreleased version of Corea’s well-known “La Fiesta, ” captured during
this tour, is the closing track on The Definitive Chick Corea.

Even
a quick glance at the range of material in this collection — 21 tracks
in all — provides an impressive perspective on the breadth and depth of
Corea’s imagination, according to veteran music journalist Don Heckman,
who wrote the liner notes for the set.

“Start with the all-star
collectives of the early ’80s that find him in the company of such jazz
stalwarts as Michael Brecker, Joe Henderson, Roy Haynes, Lee Konitz, and
Gary Peacock, to name only a few, ” says Heckman. “Add the musical
encounters with old friend and frequent collaborator Gary Burton, the
first Origin tracks and a glimpse of Chick’s insightful approach to
standards. And, in the 2000s, more unusual musical encounters, this time
with Bobby McFerrin, Béla Fleck, Hiromi, John McLaughlin, and again
Burton, as well as the Elektric and Akoustic Bands.”

As to the
divine nature of the creative process, Heckman recalls a quote from
Corea himself about the higher channel that every artist eventually
dials into: “Your tastes can change from day to day, ” says Corea. “But
the whole point of being an artist, with my groups, has always been
spirituality, art as spirit. That’s our message, and translated into
human rights terms, it’s freedom of expression. Freedom of thought,
which is actually broader than freedom of religion . . . Freedom to
think as you will. Which means freedom to pray, practice your own
religion, play what music you want, say what opinions you have,
communicate as you want. And that’s our premise.”

The music
within The Definitive Chick Corea on Stretch and Concord exemplifies
Corea’s unwillingness to be restricted by artificial boundaries, says
Nick Phillips, Concord Music Group’s Vice President of Catalog and Jazz
A&R and co-producer — in collaboration with Corea — of this
collection. “One of the many amazing things about Chick is just how
restlessly creative he is — not only as an instrumentalist, but also as a
composer, ” says Phillips. “He’s a true artist who’s not driven by
fickle trends, or some conventional norm about the way a jazz tune
should be written or played. He’s driven purely by his own boundless
creativity, and he has demonstrated that throughout his career. That’s
what shines through on these tracks and that’s why each one is
timeless.”

Heckman sums up the release as “a three-decade,
double-disc album of selected musical scenes from a richly creative
life. An album guaranteed to appeal to Chick’s dedicated fans, as well
as the lucky listeners who will be experiencing the pleasures of first
discovery.”

TRACK LIST:

Disc 2
Blue Monk
Bessie’s Blues
Johnny’s Landing
North Africa
The Fool on the Hill
Señorita
Crystal Silence
The Disguise
La Fiesta [previously unreleased]