This live set revisits material from Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (1968), Light as a Feather (1972), The Mad Hatter (1978), Friends (1978) and Three Quartets (1981), focusing as much on Corea the composer as Corea the pianist. In the same way that recent trios led by guitarist Pat Metheny have drawn from a broad cross-section of writing from his entire repertoire, Super Trio is a reminder of how many memorable tunes Corea has written—many still becoming part of the collective musical unconscious.

Still, it’s not as if the trio doesn’t exercise broad liberty with the material. Take the open-ended version of “Matrix,” one of Corea’s earliest compositions, for example. Bassist Christian McBride’s opening solo, free though it may be, insidiously alludes to the familiar theme without giving away the store. Corea and drummer Steve Gadd join in on the free play. The trio takes its time, stretching the source material every which way, never completely coalescing for the melody—instead, dancing around it for nearly fourteen minutes and proving just how malleable Corea’s writing can be. — AllAboutJazz