Chick Corea Celebrating His 75th For Two Months
Chick Corea turns 75 on Sunday. What better way to celebrate this milestone than a two-month stint at the Blue Note in New York. And to help him celebrate this special birthday, there will be a total of 80 shows, 15 legendary bands, and 60 legendary musicians performing between October 19th and December 12th.
Since Chick has recorded in so many different formats and genres, this only seems appropriate for an iconic musician. And so, starting off the proceedings, Chick will play with his Elektric Band (Eric Marienthal, Frank Gambale, John Patitucci, and Dave Weckl) from October 19th to 23rd. He will then switch to the music of Miles Davis (Chick played and recorded with Miles from 1968 to 1970) with Kenny Garrett, Wallace Roney, Mike Stern, Marcus Miller, and Brian Blade from October 26th to October 30th.
The Three Quartets Band with Steve Gadd, Eddie Gomez, and Ben Solomon will play on November 2nd and 3rd and the Leprechaun Band (named after his landmark 1975 album) with Gadd and Gomez plus Steve Wilson, Gayle Moran Corea, Michael Rodriguez, and Steve Davis from November 4th to 6th.
Chick was a pioneer on the electric keyboard so two nights will specialize on that as well: November 9th and 10th with his Experiments in Electronica features Marcus Gilmore plus genre-defying players still to be announced. A totally different aspect is Chick’s “Flamenco Heart” which will be the theme for November 11th to the 13th. The Chick Corea Big Band with the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra is on for November 16th and 17th with a change in pace and style and several duets concerts for November 18th-20th (duet partners to be announced). His long-running friendship with Gary Burton will be celebrated with two nights together with the Harlem String Quartet on November 22nd and 23rd.
His group Origin is the topic for November 25th to the 27th with Ravi Coltrane, Steve Wilson, Steve Davis, Carlitos del Puerto, and Marcus Gilmore. And his groundbreaking 70s group Return To Forever will have its acoustic sessions from November 30th to December 4th with Ravi Coltrane, Hubert Laws, Avishai Cohen, and Lenny White. The electric part of that music will have John McLaughlin, Victor Wooten, and White for December 8th to 12th. There is also a special night with artists to be announced on December 7th. I wonder if he can squeeze in a solo night as well.
Not bad for a soon-to-be 75-year old. Gina wishes all the best and good luck and we’ll drop by during the duets and the Burton concerts.
