The music of the 1970s – wow! That era was such a grand time to be a musician. There was enough great funk music to keep you practicing until your funk skunked (sorry for the bad pun, Brecker Brothers). Musicians pushed every boundary as they continually created new genres. Live music was king, vinyl spun freely, and auto-tune and Cher hadn’t met yet. This was an age of grand curiosity for musical invention.
New guys in your scene were always looking to get the next “one-up on ya,” and, as in the “West Side Story” song, “Something’s Coming,” you could detect a rumbling coming… you could feel something humming in the air. As a musician at an after party or a hang, you were often confronted by the “hip guys,” the “one-up-ers” as they pretentiously paraded into the room holding new records that they had picked up at Tower Records. You know the guys – they were the cats that had a few chops that you may not have heard yet, or the guys that had mastered the hip licks and tricks of the day. They would arrogantly look you in the eye and ask smug questions meant to be intimidating or humiliating, but you, too, were one of the guys. The one question that changed my entire perspective on the mastery of music was, “Have you heard the new Chick Corea album, Where Have I Known You Before?” I specifically remember a hipster saying, “You are not ready for this. It will scare the hell out of you – but in the best way.” And as the needle hit the record, in an instant, my music world exploded! All boundaries were shattered. There was a new musical format on the rise, and Chick Corea was at the forefront of the movement – welcome “fusion!!!”
Everywhere you looked in the “Fusion World,” amazing musicians abounded pushing new frontiers. The harbingers of this movement blending jazz, progressive rock, and funk as key elements, were groundbreakers such as Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters, The Tony Williams Lifetime, The Brecker Brothers, Stuff, and The Eleventh House.
The Fusion World was on fire! And it was influencing Progressive Rock with bands like Yes, and King Crimson. It was a vibrant time in music. Corea, like all truly great artists, very clearly understood a few things. He knew he was experiencing a time in music akin to the great Westward Expansion of the 1800s. It was, indeed, a new frontier in modern “fusion” jazz, and Corea was a big part of its soul. Although he pushed every boundary, Chick respected time-honored musical principles.
Where Corea did take great liberty was in the blending of genres. I will borrow the senior vice president at Hal Leonard, Doug Lady’s description of Corea’s music. He described it as. “Spanish flavored, jazz fusion, virtuoso, electric funk.”
Corea had another gift: besides being a great musician, he was also a master composer. His song “Spain” has been recorded by no fewer than 30 different artists including Stevie Wonder. The lyrics were later written by the late, great Al Jarreau. Chick changed formats repeatedly and always surrounded himself with the world’s finest musicians, and just when we thought we had seen every different pairing and approach possible… enter Bela Fleck. Corea and Fleck, broke through to new heights and recorded the live album Two. Fleck (together with Corea) redefined the role of how the banjo could be integrated and adapted into multiple new genres.
Corea was not only a master of his craft, he was also respected and revered by all the great musicians with whom he performed, and he always surrounded himself with the world’s best musicians. But what some may not realize is that Corea was also approachable. His grace was a defining part of his character. A few years back, I took two of my music students to see Corea and Steve Gadd together at the famous Washington D.C. jazz club Blues Alley. Blues Alley is a very intimate setting where the artists and the audience are truly one. The stage is only six inches high and the tables in the front and on the sides abut the stage. The locals know the Blues Alley secret is to arrive early because it is general seating; arriving early, we were able to get a table next to the stage and within point blank range of Gadd’s drums. The lineup was comprised of Luisito Quintero (percussion), Carlitos del Puerto (acoustic and electric bass), Lionel Loueke (guitar), Steve Wilson (saxophone), Steve Gadd, and Chick Corea. At Blues Alley, when the artists approach the stage to perform, they stroll through the audience, and in this case, they paraded through to a standing ovation. It was an electric evening for all of us. What happened that evening for my two students will affect the way they look at the grace of legends for the rest of their careers. As Gadd made his way to the stage, he acknowledged the young musicians, and he intentionally stopped to talk with them. He did the same after the show, as did Chick Corea. These two greats made themselves available, not only to us, but to many in attendance who hoped simply to say, “Thank you.”
And this brings me to my close. We should all say thank you to Chick Corea, a true musical ambassador, music pioneer, pianist, composer, and one of the best artists ever to grace us with unbelievably beautiful music.
Mr. Corea, you sir, will be missed.
Menzie Pittman is the owner and director of education at Contemporary Music Center in Virginia (CMC). Following a performance and teaching career spanning more than 32 years, he founded CMC in 1989 and continues to perform, teach, and oversee daily operations. He has 50 years of musical experience as a drummer and drum instructor. Menzie is a frequent speaker at NAMM’s Idea Center, and a freelance writer for MMR’s “Small Business Matters”.
