Chick Corea Listening Guide

Great Chick Corea Records for novices or seasoned Coreaphiles

Chick Corea, one of our greatest pianists and composers, passed away recently. A great loss. Whether or not you’re familiar with Chick’s music, here’s a basic guide to some of his best work for listeners of all stripes and levels of experience.

Acoustic Chick - Chick playing straight ahead jazz.

1. Now He Sings, Now He Sobs. - The Classic Trio hit with Miroslav Vitous (bass) & Roy Haynes (drums). A crisp, brilliant set by one of the great jazz trios. A defining record. Be sure to check the cd bonus tracks.

2. Blue Mitchell- The Thing To Do - Chick featured with trumpeter Blue Mitchell.

3. Elvin Jones- Live at Town Hall - Chick in Elvin’s band along with Joe Farrell and Frank Foster.

4. Friends- the great Chick quartet from the 1980’s with Joe Farrell, Eddie Gomez and Steve Gadd. Smurfs adorn the album cover.

5. Three Quartets- amazing original music featuring Michael Brecker on tenor sax.

6. Stan Getz- Sweet Rain- Stan’s iconic 1967 quartet date with bassist Ron Carter, drummer Grady Tate, and Chick in great form. Stan plays Chick’s now standard originals Windows and Litha.

7. Inner Space- Chick’s 1968 music featuring Joe Chambers, Woody Shaw, Hubert Laws and Joe Farrell.

8. Stan Getz- Captain Marvel. Contains Chick’s timeless classic La Fiesta.

9. Return To Forever. Must -Have Chick with Airto, Flora Purim, Joe Farrell and Stanley Clarke. Great version of La Fiesta.

10. Light As a Feather. RTF’s 2nd album containing the now standard Chick pieces Spain, and 500 Miles High.

11. Crystal Silence. Flagship record by the Duo with vibraphonist Gary Burton.

12. An Evening With Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. 2 geniuses, 2 pianos. Speaks for itself.

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Electric Chick

1. Miles Davis- Black Beauty. This daring set features Chick on electric piano, creating new sounds in a band with Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Steve Grossman and Miles.

2. The Leprechaun. So called “ fusion” or jazz-rock of the period. Many styles appear, but Nite Sprite is one of Chick’s funkiest tunes.

3. Mad Hatter- Chick’s magnum opus about Lewis Carroll’s Alice. Orchestra pieces and vocals mingle with a lone jazz quartet tune , Humpty Dumpty, which is one of Chick’s greatest, featuring Farrell, Gadd and Gomez.

4. Secret Agent. A bit underrated, but the core rhythm team of bassist Bunny Brunel and drummer Tom Brechtlein make this a cd of varied and killing grooves. “Central Park” and “Glebe Street Blues” are standouts.

5. Chick Corea Elektrik Band- a classic with Dave Weckl and John Pattitucci.

Hoping this gives a great picture of the variety, scope and greatness which Chick Corea gave us for so many years. Please enjoy.

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