Chick Corea, Piano Béla Fleck, Banjo Duets
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CAL PERFORMANCES PRESENTS ABOUT THE ARTISTS Saturday, January 18, 2014, 8pm An NEA Jazz Master, 18- his acoustic trio tour with Return to Forever Zellerbach Hall time Grammy winner, bandmates Stanley Clarke and Lenny White. brilliant American com- The two honors were, remarkably, Mr. Corea’s poser, and keyboard vir- 17th and 18th Grammy Awards. tuoso, Chick Corea has The same year, Mr. Corea undertook three attained living legend sta- world tours and released four new albums: Chick Corea, piano tus after five decades of the critically acclaimed Further Explorations unparalleled creativity and an artistic output (with Eddie Gomez and Paul Motian); The Béla Fleck, banjo that is simply staggering. Continents: Concerto for Jazz Quintet and From his 2012 Grammy win for Best Chamber Orchestra, an ambitious new clas- Improvised Jazz Solo, through his enormously sical release and a crowning achievement in prolific career, Mr. Corea has touched an as- his work as a master composer; Hot House, tonishing number of musical bases in his illus- a transcendent new set of standards in his trious career— from straight ahead to avant- Grammy-winning duo with Gary Burton; garde, bebop to fusion, children’s songs to and Return to Forever’s latest live album, The chamber music, along with some far-reaching Mothership Returns. forays into symphonic works—while main- In August 2013, Mr. Corea released his taining a standard of excellence that is awe- most recent album, The Vigil, featuring inspiring. A tirelessly creative spirit, Mr. Corea bassist Hadrien Feraud, drummer Marcus continues to forge ahead, continually reinvent- Gilmore, saxophonist Tim Garland, and ing himself in the process. guitarist Charles Altura, with guest appear- Mr. Corea began his career with appren- ances by Mr. Clarke, vocalist Gayle Moran ticeships with the likes of Stan Getz, Sarah Corea (Mr. Corea’s wife), percussionist Pernell Vaughan, and Miles Davis, with whom he Saturnino, and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. participated in such landmark sessions as In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. Embarking on a Just in case you aren’t fa- solo career in 1966, Mr. Corea has been at the miliar with Béla Fleck, forefront of jazz, both as a renowned pianist there are some who say he forging new ground with his acoustic jazz is the premier banjo player bands, and as an innovative electric keyboard- in the world. Others claim ist with Return to Forever and the Elektric that he has virtually rein- Duets Band. His extensive discography boasts nu- vented the image and the merous essential albums, beginning with his sound of the banjo through his remarkably di- 1968 classic, Now He Sings, Now He Sobs. verse performing and recording career. The Mr. Corea continues to make a signifi- recipient of multiple Grammy Awards going cant impact on the scene, as evidenced by back to 1998, Mr. Fleck has won a total of 14 2007’s Grammy-winning The Enchantment Grammys and has received 30 nominations. (duets with banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck), 2008’s He has been nominated in more different cat- Grammy-winning The New Crystal Silence egories than anyone in Grammy history. Jazz at Cal Performances is sponsored by Nadine Tang and Bruce Smith. (duets with longstanding collaborator Gary Born and raised in New York City, Burton), 2009’s Returns (documenting Return Mr. Fleck began his musical career playing the Cal Performances’ 2013–2014 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. to Forever’s 2008 reunion tour) and 2009’s guitar. But in the early 1960s, while watching Grammy-winning Five Peace Band Live (with The Beverly Hillbillies, the bluegrass sounds of John McLaughlin, Christian McBride, Kenny Flatt & Scruggs flowed out of the TV set and Garrett, and Vinnie Colaiuta). into his young brain. Earl Scruggs’s banjo In 2012, Mr. Corea took home two style hooked Mr. Fleck’s interest immediately. Grammys, including Best Jazz Instrumental “It was like sparks going off in my head,” he Solo, for Forever, the two-CD set recorded on later said. 2 3 ABOUT THE ARTISTS When his grandfather bought him a banjo He also collaborated with Mr. Bush, Jerry in September 1973, it became his full-time pas- Douglas, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O’Connor sion. That week, Mr. Fleck entered New York in an acoustic super group called Strength in City’s High School of Music and Art. Living in Numbers, whose MCA release, The Telluride New York City, Mr. Fleck was exposed to a wide Sessions, is also considered an evolutionary variety of musical experiences. Particularly statement by the acoustic music community. impressive was a concert by Return to Forever, In 1988, Dick Van Kleek, Artistic Director featuring Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke. for PBS’s Lonesome Pine series, offered Mr. This concert encouraged further experiment- Fleck a solo show, for which Mr. Fleck assem- ing with bebop and jazz on the banjo, signs of bled a band with harmonicist Howard Levy, things to come. bassist Victor Wooten, and percussionist Roy After high school, Mr. Fleck moved to Wooten. The resulting televised concert be- Boston to play with Jack Tottle’s Tasty Licks, and came the first performance of Béla Fleck and at 19 years old made his first solo banjo album, the Flecktones. Crossing the Tracks, on Rounder Records. After The Flecktones’ self-titled CD, released in the breakup of Tasty Licks, Mr. Fleck spent a 1990, was nominated for a Grammy, and the summer on the streets of Boston playing with band’s second recording, Flight of the Cosmic bassist Mark Schatz. He and Mr. Fleck moved to Hippo, followed suit. Over the years, the Lexington, Kentucky, to form Spectrum, which Flecktones have shared the stage with the Dave toured until 1981. While in Spectrum, he and Matthews Band, Sting, Bonnie Raitt, and the Mr. Schatz traveled to California and Nashville Grateful Dead, and their albums have featured to record his second album, Natural Bridge, guest contributions from artists as diverse with David Grisman, Mark O’Connor, Ricky as Chick Corea, Bruce Hornsby, Branford Skaggs, Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, and other Marsalis, John Medeski, Andy Statman, the great players. Alash Group, and Mr. Matthews. That same year, Mr. Fleck joined the pro- In 2006, the band released The Hidden gressive bluegrass band New Grass Revival, Land, which won the Grammy for Best lead by Sam Bush on mandolin, fiddle, and vo- Contemporary Jazz Album in 2007. In 2009, cals. With the addition of Pat Flynn on guitar Jingle All the Way, the band’s holiday album, and John Cowan on bass and vocals, New Grass won the Grammy for Pop Instrumental Album. Revival took bluegrass music to new limits, ex- Any world-class musician born with the citing audiences and critics alike. Through the names Béla (for Bartók), Anton (for Dvořák), course of five albums, they charted new terri- and Leoš (for Janáček) would seem destined tory with their blend of bluegrass, rock, and to play classical music, and in 2001 Mr. Fleck country music. made the classical connection with Perpetual During the 1980s, Mr. Fleck also recorded Motion, his acclaimed Sony Classical record- a series of solo albums for Rounder, includ- ing, which won a pair of Grammys, including ing the groundbreaking 1988 album Drive. Best Classical Crossover Album. 4.