An the wake of Chick Corea’s passing, Quincy Jones’ Qwest TV has curated a playlist to showcase and honor his contributions to jazz and genres as far-reaching as rock, classical, bossa nova, Latin, and many more.
Among the videos in this playlist are the incredible 2011 documentary Chick Corea: The Musician, and a range of concerts Corea gave across many of the world’s most important stages, both solo and in partnership with artists such as Miles Davis, the great McCoy Tyner (who also recently passed away), Friedrich Gulda, Steve Kujala, Moondog, Nicolas Economou, Gary Burton and more. In addition, Qwest TV had the honor of having Chick Corea as the February 2019 “Guest of the Month,” for which Corea chose a special selection of his favorite concerts, including a Coleman Hawkins concert from 1962, a Thelonious Monk show from 1963, and a live performance by Wayne Shorter, his long-time collaborator, from the 1987 Estival Jazz festival.
Chinese Butterfly, Corea & Gadd’s debut two-disc studio album, featuring five epic new Corea compositions, is scheduled for release January 19, 2018 via Concord Jazz. The album’s title hints at the rare and transfixing beauty of its music. Chick and Steve use their shared history of fearless innovation as a launching pad, pushing into new territory with an inspired band of collaborators: Benin-born guitarist and vocalist Lionel Loueke, saxophonist and flutist Steve Wilson, Cuban bassist Carlitos Del Puerto, and Venezuelan percussionist Luisito Quintero. The album is the realization of a long-held desire that Chick and Steve shared, to work together more intensively. "Whenever Chick and I bump into each other, we’re always talking about playing music together,” Gadd says. "After many years of saying that, we finally put some time aside.” Corea and Gadd first crossed paths in 1965, when Corea briefly joined up with Gadd’s regular gig in Chuck Mangione’s band. Over the next 10 years, Chick became one of the most influential keyboardists and composers of his generation, in jazz or any other genre. Steve, likewise, became a drum legend, laying down ageless, iconic rhythms with Paul Simon, Steely Dan and countless others. In 1972, Corea reimagined his pioneering Brazilian outfit Return to Forever as an electric band, and Gadd became its first drummer. His commitments as the most in-demand session drummer on the scene could not accommodate RTF’s extensive touring schedule, but Corea & Gadd would reunite in 1976 for Corea’s Grammy-winning The Leprechaun and the acclaimed My Spanish Heart, whose mix of electric jazz and Latin rhythms echoes through Chinese Butterfly. Their camaraderie was the backbone of 1981’s Three Quartets, a watershed album for Chick’s writing and a master class in next-level straight-ahead jazz. By the time they cleared their schedules to get together at Corea’s Florida studio in early 2017, their unique chemistry provided Chick with a burst of compositional inspiration, beginning with "Like I Was Sayin’” and the playfully titled "Gadd-zooks”. "I’ve always enjoyed composing music for a band, and hearing what Steve would do with my compositions,” Corea says. "When we started playing those two tunes together, it felt so good that we started to talk about putting a band together.”
While Corea is credited as the composer on the majority of the set’s eight tunes (with John McLaughlin’s tribute "Chick’s Chums” and "Wake-Up Call,” co-written with Loueke, the only exceptions), he insists that the end result is a group effort, indelibly marked with Gadd’s distinctive rhythmic sensibility. "It’s a co-creation,” he explains. "I write the compositions, and Steve puts together the form of the rhythm, which is the backbone of the band. In my music, rhythm is everything – if the music doesn't have the right emotion and rhythm, it can’t live.” Right from the opening seconds – a whip-crack pulse-quickening intro to the infectious "Chick’s Chums,” – Gadd’s signature is all over this album. He and Corea drive a band with bottomless reserves of firepower: the opener’s deep-pocket funk and elegant lyricism give way to "Serenity,” a showcase for Loueke’s stirring vocals and Wilson’s lilting flute. The band’s high-wire dynamic comes to the fore through the taut, roiling grooves of "Like I Was Sayin’,” which strips the ensemble down to a trio with Del Puerto for the session’s most full-throttle excursion. Corea’s keyboard mastery is breathtaking throughout, melding beautifully with Quintero’s percussive pulse for the intricate Latin sound of "A Spanish Song.” The tune strikes a unique balance between passionate emotion and effortless complexity. Disc one closes with the title track, inspired by a verse written by Corea’s friend, poet Malin Gelfan. "Your heart will tremble,” the brief poem concludes, "like a Chinese Butterfly.” The brimming, expressive interplay between Corea and Wilson alone is enough to deliver those palpitations. The three expansive tracks on disc two find the group stretching out even further. "Return to Forever” offers a glimpse of a parallel universe where Gadd stayed in the band, revisiting that iconic group’s eponymous theme song, with lovely, keening vocals courtesy of R&B great and Earth, Wind & Fire original member Philip Bailey. The track alternates between sparse, idyllic impressionism and joyous, celebratory bursts of soulful colors. The captivating drones of "Wake-Up Call,” with atmospheric tones that suggest a lush jungle enlivened by birdsong and chants, adds gentle African rhythms to the mix while maintaining a sharp focus throughout its epic 18 minutes – this is a tune that’s about digging deep, not losing control. Finally, "Gadd-zooks” offers a comic book-inspired reaction to Gadd’s drumset prowess, a 16-minute tasting menu of the drum master’s rhythmic eclecticism, paired with a stunning palette of shimmering tones and inventive approaches from Corea’s synths. Artist Marc Bessant’s cover design shows the form of a butterfly constructed by the instruments of the band – pianos for wings, drums for the head and thorax, etc. It’s an image that perfectly encapsulates The Corea/Gadd Band’s unique beauty – organic, one-of-a-kind, and inspiring in its ability to take breath-taking flight.
Chick Corea first laid eyes on New York’s Greenwich Village in 1959, fresh from high school, with a head full of music that only he could have imagined. With this new release The Musician, recorded in the epicenter of Chick’s original NYC haunts and more than 50 years later, Corea finally brings all that music together at once. The new live 3-CD and Blu-ray set captures Corea’s 70th birthday celebration at the famed Blue Note Jazz Club in 2011, where he assembled a staggering lineup of musical friends and fellow-travelers – among them Herbie Hancock, Bobby McFerrin, Wynton Marsalis, John McLaughlin and Stanley Clarke – for a month-long residency featuring 10 different bands, including triumphal sets by his own Chick Corea Elektric Band and Return to Forever. All of it is captured brilliantly in the first feature-length documentary on Corea’s life, music and genius musical partners. The film takes you inside the heads and "hangs” of some of the greatest artists of our time – backstage and personal – and the CDs capture almost four hours of live recordings of every band. The deluxe hardcover edition, including the film on Blu-ray, in addition to the 3 CDs, an essay by Robin D. G. Kelley and exclusive photos, will be available from Concord Jazz on April 21, 2017, as well as a 3-CD edition. A 3-LP edition on 180-gram vinyl is planned for June 2. Return to Forever Unplugged, with Clarke (bass), Lenny White (drums) and Frank Gambale (guitar), opens the set like a thundercrack. Lyrical explorations in a trio with Gary Peacock (bass) and Brian Blade (drums) follow, cutting a path for even more fireworks from fan-favorite Five Peace Band, co-led with McLaughlin (guitar), featuring Kenny Garrett (sax), John Patitucci (bass) and Blade. A duet with McFerrin (vocals) is pure improvisational magic from two masters of the form. Corea and his most frequent collaborator, Gary Burton (vibraphone) add the Harlem String Quartet for a virtuosic chamber jazz set.
From Miles, with Wallace Roney (trumpet), Gary Bartz (sax), Eddie Gomez (bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums) is a Davis tribute like no other: vibrant and swinging with the spirit of Miles himself. Flamenco Heart is a classic late-night Madrid party, featuring Concha Buika (vocals), Jorge Pardo (sax and flute), Carles Benavent (bass), Niño Josele (guitar), and Jeff Ballard (drums). Piano duets with Hancock and Marcus Roberts are brilliantly alive with emotion and virtuosity. The Elektric Band – Dave Weckl (drums), Patitucci, Eric Marienthal (sax) and Gambale – closes the album with a jolt of musical energy. Nobody who saw these shows will ever forget it. The CDs capture the music with Corea’s characteristic thrilling live sound, and the documentary goes even further: with total access to Chick’s creative process, the film features live footage, but also rehearsals, backstage hangs and candid interviews with the musicians. Everything that goes into making music at this level – the hours of practice, rehearsals, gear moving in and out – is in full view. The Musician is one of the great portraits of a true genius in his prime, at work. In every musical setting, Corea’s long history of creative adventurism made for the ultimate present-tense music. The title of the set followed naturally. "That’s what the story’s about. It’s about musicians, being musicians,” Corea says. "When people ask me, ‘What did you learn from Miles?’ – that’s the salient thing that I took from my experience. Miles just let his musicians be themselves. He let them be musicians.” The Musician is a look at Corea’s ongoing creative journey, one that never rests for long. His constant innovation as a composer, piano player and bandleader have earned him just about every award available to jazz musicians, including his status as a Downbeat Magazine Hall of Famer and NEA Jazz Master. He sits at #4 on the list of artists with the most Grammy nominations of all time. From straight-ahead to avant-garde, bebop to jazz-rock fusion, children’s songs to chamber works – all of which are embraced on The Musician – Corea has touched an astonishing number of musical bases in his career. "One question I’m asked all the time is what setting do I like best – trios or full bands – or which musician do I like best to work with? Do I like to play the piano more than the Rhodes? The answer to any of those questions is the same, really – it’s all so less in importance to the act of creating, and the act of collaborating with another musician.” The Musician shows Corea welcoming his 70th year with friends and thousands of fans. Now, five years later, he shows no sign of slowing down. He continues to look forward to more tours, more gigs, and more sessions. Looking back on the month-long celebration that is now remembered on The Musician, Corea calls it motivation "to keep on experimenting and researching and putting new bands together and playing music. It’s that simple.”
Disc One
1 Captain Marvel (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
08:15 Chick Corea, Return To Forever
2 Light As A Feather (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
14:16 Chick Corea, Return To Forever
3 I Hear A Rhapsody (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
09:25 Chick Corea, Chick Corea Trio
4 Spirit Rides (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
13:00 Chick Corea, John McLaughlin
5 Special Beings (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
16:43 Chick Corea, John McLaughlin
6 I've Got The World On A String (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
05:54 Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin
7 Spain (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
09:34 Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin
Disc Two
1 Overture (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
07:57 Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Harlem Quartet
2 Your Eyes Speak To Me (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
04:32 Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Harlem Quartet, Gayle Moran Corea
3 If I Were A Bell (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
22:09 Chick Corea
4 Nefertiti (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
10:54 Chick Corea
5 Zyryab (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
16:38 Chick Corea
6 Mi Nina Lola (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
09:22 Chick Corea
Disc Three
1 CC's Birthday Blues (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
09:26 Chick Corea, Marcus Roberts, Wynton Marsalis
2 Caravan (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
08:29 Chick Corea, Marcus Roberts
3 Hot House (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
05:00 Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock
4 Dolphin Dance (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
09:10 Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock
5 Cantaloupe Island (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
06:38 Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock
6 Ritual (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
13:39 Chick Corea, Chick Corea Elektric Band
7 Silver Temple (Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club, New York, NY October-November 2011)
CHICK COREA AND CHARLES LLOYD LEAD AWARD-WINNING LINE-UP FOR 2018 SAILING OF BLUE NOTE AT SEA
Leslie Odom, Jr. (Hamilton) Also Joins the Line-up of Grammy and Tony Award Winning Artists and NEA Jazz Masters
2017 marked the initial sailing of Blue Note at Sea, a nautical musical collaboration between Blue Note Records, Blue Note Jazz Clubs and Entertainment Cruise Productions. Don Was, president of Blue Note Records and a three time Grammy winning producer has called this three-way production team "the dream team of jazz at sea." With his expertise and direction, the production and programming savvy offered by Steven Bensusan and his team at Blue Note Jazz Clubs and the 17 years of jazz cruises produced by Entertainment Cruise Productions, Was' description seems apt. The 2018 cruise roster is nearly finalized and includes winners of 48 Grammys and 2 Tony Awards. The cruise also features 4 NEA Jazz Masters (the highest award in jazz), all of whom are sailing on Blue Note at Sea for the first time.
These four illustrious performers are among the most celebrated jazz artists of our time: 22-time Grammy winner and NEA Jazz Master Chick Corea, NEA Jazz Master Charles Lloyd, triple Grammy-winner and Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Dr. Lonnie Smith. Legendary saxophonist (and Blue Note recording artist) Charles Lloyd will join the cruise in St. Thomas with his band The Marvels - Bill Frisell, Greg Leisz, Reuben Rogers and Eric Harland. Bridgewater, who, in addition to her three Grammys, has earned a Tony award, will be backed by her own band as well. Smith, a Hammond B-3 guru, has been featured on over seventy albums, and has recorded and performed with a virtual "Who's Who" of the greatest jazz, blues and R&B giants in the industry. Both Bridgewater and Smith will be joining the ranks of NEA Jazz Masters in 2017. Bridgewater is not the only Tony Award-winner who will be performing for audiences on the Celebrity Summit next February. Leslie Odom, Jr., best known for his role as Aaron Burr in the Broadway smash hit Hamilton, for which he took home both a Tony (for Best Actor in a Musical) and a Grammy (for Best Musical Theater Album), is set to bring his jazz chops to the forefront when he performs with his band on the cruise. The New York Times describes Odom's style as "tender jazz vocals with flashes of adult-contemporary R&B." Blue Note at Sea '18 will again be hosted by multi-Grammy winning bassist Marcus Miller. Other Grammy-winning artists who will be returning are Robert Glasper, Lalah Hathaway and David Sanborn. While Glasper and Sanborn will perform in the same configurations as they did on Blue Note at Sea's inaugural sailing, five time Grammy winner Hathaway will bring her own band on board this time out. The three bands feature 11 top jazz musicians, all of whom will be performing in other configurations and groups during the cruise. The multi-Grammy winning pianist Robert Glasper will also be appearing with the Blue Note All Stars, an incredible sextet of young visionaries who first formed in 2014 to celebrate Blue Note's 75th Anniversary. The band features Glasper along with his label-mates Ambrose Akinmusire, Lionel Loueke, Marcus Strickland, Derrick Hodge and Kendrick Scott. Both Don Was and Steven Bensusan will also participate on the cruise. Was will emcee several events and will interview many of the performers, as he did on the 2017 sailing. Bensusan will host the Blue Note Jazz Club at Sea, a gorgeous late night venue that offers cabaret style seating in the tradition of his many Blue Note Jazz Clubs. Featuring the most highly respected and renowned contemporary jazz performers in the world, Blue Note at Sea is a collaboration among Blue Note Jazz Clubs, Blue Note Records, and Entertainment Cruise Productions. From stunning main shows to their signature Night Music events to Late, Late Night shows and jam sessions, Blue Note at Sea defines what is new and hip in the world of jazz while also retaining and respecting those aspects of the genre that have made jazz one of the true enduring musical styles around the world. Blue Note at Sea will sail on Celebrity Summit from February 3 - 10, 2018, departing from Ft. Lauderdale, with ports of call in San Juan, St. Thomas, Coco Cay (Bahamas) and Labadee (Haiti). For more information about the cruise program, go to www.bluenoteatsea.com.
About Entertainment Cruise Productions, LLC
Entertainment Cruise Productions is the world leader in live entertainment at sea. Since 2001, Entertainment Cruise Productions, through its various programs, has produced more than 70 full ship charters, such as Playboy Jazz Cruise, The Elvis Cruise, North Sea Jazz Cruise, Celtic Thunder Cruise, NASCAR The Cruise, and The Gospel Music Cruise. Sailing in 2018 along with The Jazz Cruise are The Smooth Jazz Cruise, Blue Note at Sea, The 80s Cruise and Star Trek: The Cruise. Entertainment Cruise Productions is dedicated to providing the finest music and entertainment cruise experience in the world.
