Chick Corea has passed away from cancer at age 79.
Back in October 2018, when I was at the very beginning of my jazz piano journey (I had bought a cheap 44-key Casio and was learning scales and starting to read Ted Gioia’s The History of Jazz), I gave myself an impromptu birthday present of a ticket to see Chick Corea’s trio perform at SFJAZZ in San Francisco. It was one of those transformational musical experiences for me – so much that was cloudy in my head about jazz and jazz piano suddenly became crystal clear, and it was at that point I decided to commit to getting myself a true digital piano and dedicate myself to learning jazz. I was planning to see him again at SFJAZZ last summer before COVID hit and wiped out that chance, and now there’ll never be another. He was an inspiration.
Yes, I just heard, how sad, what a loss for the music community everywhere. I saw him perform decades ago in Adelaide ( Australia) and Gayle Moran was the other keyboard player at the time. It was such a beautiful concert. They were both dressed in white, and there were red roses on the grand pianos. Rest in Peace Maestro.
This was a very sad day. I was just watching the other day one of his videos on YouTube recorded during the lockdown where he was playing Bach. He had such a holistic view of music, being able to switch genres on the spot! RIP.
Really stunned to hear the news! I first got turned on to Chick Corea by a guitarist friend recommending his Return to Forever’s Romantic Warrior when it first came out (1976), telling me to check out guitarrist Al Di Meola. Wow, what keys.
Here’s a concert with Chucho Valdés and Chick Corea. The set list is appended below the video. The entire set is well worth a listen, but their duets are so very fine. Enjoy!
Chick Corea:
23:51 In A Sentimental Mood
31:27 Waltz For Debby
Chucho Valdés & Chick Corea
39:35 Mambo Influenciado
45:58 (TBD)
51:57 Blue Bossa
58:54 Remembrance
1:06:36 La Conga Loca
1:13:37 A Spanish Song
1:22:23 Blue Monk
1:29:06 Armando’s Rhumba
