RIP Chick Corea

[bisontuba]

Rolling Stone

Chick Corea, Jazz Pianist Who Expanded the Possibilities of the Genre, Dead at 79
Keyboardist helped Miles Davis usher in the fusion revolution and founded his own revolutionary groups, including Return to Forever

HANK SHTEAMER
FEBRUARY 11, 2021 4:26PM EST

Jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea poses for a portrait in Clearwater, Fla., on Sept. 4, 2020, to promote his new double album "Plays," available on Friday Sept. 11. (Mike Carlson/Invision/AP)
Mike Carlson/Invision/AP
Chick Corea, the virtuosic keyboardist who broadened the scope of jazz during a career spanning more than five decades, died on Tuesday from a rare form of cancer. A post on his Facebook page confirmed the news. Corea was 79.

In the early Sixties, Corea established himself as an A-list pianist, working with Stan Getz, Herbie Mann, and others. Later in the decade, he joined Miles Davis’ band and played a key role in helping the trumpeter make the transition to a more contemporary, plugged-in sound on albums like Bitches Brew. Following his work with Davis, he formed his own groundbreaking electric band, Return to Forever, which played some of the most vibrant and dynamic music of the fusion era. In the ensuing decades, Corea threw himself into countless projects, showing off his limitless range — from a duo with vibraphonist Gary Burton to his trendsetting Elektric Band. His most recent album, the 2020 live solo disc Plays, showed off his wildly diverse skill set and body of influences, touching on classical pieces, bebop, and more.

“What making music for people does, I’ve observed, is it stimulates what’s natural in all of us,” Corea told Jazz Times in 2020. “It’s native sense, in every person. You don’t have to be a professional anything — all you need to do is be a living human being, and open to the play of imagination.”