CHICK COREA INTERVIEW by Eric Myers

CHICK COREA INTERVIEW by Eric Myers _____________________________________________________________ [This article appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on February 24, 1982] espite all the talk about jazz becoming increasingly popular over the last ten years or so, the music has produced few superstars with a D genuine mass following. One of those few, however, is the American composer and pianist Chick Corea, who will perform two concerts with his quintet tonight at the Regent Theatre. US pianist/composer Chick Corea, one of the few jazz superstars with a genuine mass following: freedom to write his own tab… PHOTO CREDIT ALAN PURCELL SYDNEY MORNING HERALD 1 Corea served his apprenticeship during the 1960s with various bands, including the essential finishing-school for great modern jazz musicians, the Miles Davis group, which he joined in 1968. With ideas of incorporating rock rhythms into jazz, Corea formed his electronic ensemble, Return To Forever, in 1972, playing the kind of high-decibel jazz rock fusion music which had tremendous appeal to young people throughout the world. One version of Chick Corea’s group Return To Forever, L-R, Lenny White (drums), Corea (keyboards), Al Di Meola (guitar), Stanley Clarke (bass)… By 1976, when the group disbanded, Chick Corea had become one of the biggest drawcards in jazz. Some people see overwhelming popular acceptance as inimical to the spirit of jazz. Has Chick Corea's huge commercial success (including five Grammy awards) hindered his development as an artist? "So far as recognition by the public is concerned, it has certainly provided me with a channel through which I can communicate with humanity, which is actually one of my goals in life," he says. "It provides me with a challenge and a responsibility to, on the one hand keep a very high aesthetic level, which never compromises with my own artistic thought, but at the same time, keep the music visible enough to the public, so that I can have some good effects on people as well." He has toured extensively as a solo pianist, and in duo contexts with the pianist Herbie Hancock and the vibist Gary Burton. The last time he was in Australia, 2 in 1978, he featured in his group a horn section, a string quartet, and the vocals of Gayle Moran. Corea (left) with his wife, vocalist Gayle Moran, who performed with the 1978 group… He has frequently made incursions into acoustic jazz quartet music, consciously trying to bridge the gap between jazz and classical music. "I've been very taken by the Bartok and Beethoven string quartets," he says, "and was able immediately to relate that kind of orchestration and sensitivity in composition to a jazz quartet: For a time I was thinking of a jazz quartet like a string quartet, and wanting to pursue the idea. There can be such beautiful counterpoint in the jazz quartet." Although there are traces of these influences in Corea's contemporary compositions, the quintet that Australians will hear this time — including Stephen Kujala (saxophones and flute), Carlos Benavent (electric bass), Thomas Brechtlein (drums) and Don Alias (percussion) — is basically involved in the exploration of Latin music. Also, Corea himself has moved away from acoustic, and towards electric music. "Although I'm playing some acoustic piano, for me this group is a re- exploration of electric keyboards." Chick Corea's success has given him unusual freedom to write his own tab. He was booked to appear at the current Peter Stuyvesant International Music Festival as long ago as last June, well before his present band was formed. 3 Chick Corea accepts the responsibilities that go with his drawing-power, and identifies the unique role that the jazz musician now plays in the arts: "We're the folk adventurers: we're the ones who keep the spirit of improvisation alive, and of adventure in music." Corea: we’re the folk adventurers: we're the ones who keep the spirit of improvisation alive, and of adventure in music… PHOTO COURTESY PINTEREST “We’re the ones who can readily understand the mind of a composer no matter what style of music he writes in. Musicians who improvise and play jazz are, in the way they communicate, personally very down-to-earth — able to relate to people." 4 .

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