2 Grammy® Wins for Forever!

Chick, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White took home 2 Grammys last night, for their 2-disc set Forever: • Best Jazz Instrumental Album • Best Improvised Jazz Solo (Chick, “500 Miles High”)

Businessweek: Chick’s Residency at the Blue Note

Bloomberg Businessweek talked to Chick this week as he approaches the halfway point of his month-long Birthday Bash at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City. After kicking off with Return to Forever Unplugged and the Five Peace Band, Chick this week welcomes a first for the Blue Note: the Harlem String Quartet will join him, with longtime …

RTF, Unplugged and on Fire at the Blue Note, NYC

Return to Forever was on fire at the Blue Note in New York City the last two nights — in a configuration never heard before, unplugged: Chick (piano) Frank Gambale (acoustic guitar) Stanley Clarke (acoustic bass) Lenny White (drums) And this is just the beginning — Chick’s at the Blue Note all month, with 10 all-star bands. Check out the …

New York Times: “The Chameleon of Jazz”

The New York Times ran a spotlight on Chick and his Birthday Bash at the Blue Note this month — including two nights with Return to Forever, Unplugged — this ran on the cover of the Arts section yesterday! “His career is among the most kaleidoscopic in jazz.” — NYT

Chick Throws Ultimate Birthday Party with Herbie Hancock, Bobby McFerrin, John McLaughlin, RTF

Chick Corea at the Blue Note

The incomparable Chick Corea, known for his genre-defying brilliance, captures the evolution of his adventurous music career with a month-long 70th birthday celebration at New York’s Blue Note, featuring ten different star-studded lineups in more than forty performances. Fresh off a 70-city, multi-continental tour with Return to Forever IV, Corea returns to Greenwich Village fifty years after his debut on …

Made in Corea Celebrates 10 Years

Welcome to the 10th Aniversary of Made In Corea. I’m always so honored by the care and depth which Jarle, Ola, Fredrik and Erik arrange and present my compositions. I don’t know of another composer who is so honored as I am. These four wonderful musicians have performed aspects of my compositions that I never thought other musicians would try. …

Return to Forever IV Tour Begins!

Return to Forever IV’s World Tour is officially under way! And this is the way to start: the first show in Northampton, MA was a triumph, with audiences on their feet after every song (often after a solo). One day later, in Syracuse, June 26 was officially declared Return to Forever day. Check out Lenny below with the proclamation, presented …

Inside the Recording of Chick’s Concerto The Continents

Chick’s in a Manhattan recording studio this week laying down The Continents: Concerto for Small Jazz Group and Chamber Orchestra. Outside, New York is pushing towards 100 degrees, and inside the music hall, doubling a recording studio, the room is full of concentration—three dozen musical minds working in unison. Conductor Steven Mercurio sits at the head of the orchestra, surrounded …

Jazz Backstage: Roy Haynes and the Legend of the Cymbal

Jazz Online, the creators of the Jazz Backstage podcast, just posted a really fantastic interview with the legendary Roy Haynes — a titan of the drums and a frequent collaborator of Chick’s. Roy talks about a certain flat ride cymbal that Chick “borrowed” one day in the early ’60s, and never managed to give back. The cymbal can be heard …

Bass Musician: “When Music Was Music”

Stanley Clarke live, 2009

The upcoming release of Corea, Clarke & White’s 2-CD set Forever received another shot of critical praise this week, as Bass Musician magazine called out the album’s artistry: “All throughout these CDs Corea, Clarke, and White tear it up, while the sense of a great composition is never undermined. For the record, Stanley is at his best all throughout both …

All About Jazz: Forever is “Sublime”

Corea, Clarke & White: Forever

Listening to Corea, Clarke & White’s upcoming 2-CD set Forever, All About Jazz hears a signal jazz piano trio recording: “Trio recordings like this clearly define the division between ‘simply exceptional’ and ‘without peer.’ All three musicians so command their instruments that they exist on a performance plane defying supportive/lead roles, in favor of absolute equality.” The album—out June 7 …

A Still-Living Legend

This “Living Legend” thing is getting out of hand 🙂 And to John Tefft, US Ambassador to the Ukraine – I do appreciate the honor. Thank you, Sir. And please keep the torch burning for all Human Rights – especially the right to play whatever notes I choose – I thankfully grew up with that one 🙂 ∆ C

Chick Joins Burghausen, Germany’s Street of Fame

Chick received a rare honor March 22, as the city of Burghausen, Germany unveiled a permanent plaque on its “Street of Fame,” honoring Chick’s contribution to the history of jazz. With a ceremony in his honor, the city announced its “deep bow to a legend.” Chick performed with Gary Burton the next day at the Burghausen Jazz Festival.

A Day in Moscow

In ’82 we played in this room at Spaso House, in the American Embassy of Moscow. That was during Soviet times and it was just like the movies > > with KGB everywhere. This time we visited with the current Ambassador Beyrle and his wife Jocelyn – – and the memories flooded back. Moscow is a brand new city struggling …