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He's nearing the end of an incredible 2-month stand at a club in town, a retrospective of his various bands in his career. I don't think anyone in jazz has done something comparable.
He rapidly shifts from one band to the next; so far I've seen 2 shows and they absolutely killed. Sunday was Return to Forever I, with the amazing Hubert Laws on flute and Victor Wooten on bass, also Ravi Coltrane on sax, and only Lenny White as an "original". It was a treat seeing Wooten, as I'm such a huge admirer of his book.
Next week is blow-the-roof-off RTF II, with McLaughlin on guitar.
And the great news for anyone missing this, is that many of these shows will likely end up on DVD, which is what they did for Chick's 60th birthday celebration 15 yrs ago.
Just totally awed.
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12-07-2016 01:51 AM
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Ceaseless respect to Chick Corea and boundless gratitude for his musical gifts to me and everyone else.
You might enjoy the first VSOP double-pocket by Herbie Hancock. It's a one-night show from 1976. The first LP is Herbie with Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter and Tony Williams, playing Herbie's "Maiden Voyage"-era book. The second band is the Mwandishi ensemble, with Eddie Henderson, Bennie Maupin, Julian Priester, Buster Williams and Billy Hart. Herbie's funk band (with, among others, Mr. Maupin and James Levi on drums) closes the evening.
Originally Posted by JazzinNY
I had the great luck to see a show on the following tour. The band was Herbie, Bennie Maupin, James Levi and the young, sane, apparently-sober Jaco Pastorius provin' it all night on bass. They played all three books. I remember that it was the first time I saw one drummer killing jazz, free and funk.
Here's a taste:
Last edited by Sam Sherry; 12-07-2016 at 05:14 PM.
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Chick is a national treasure. I have seen him twice--once in a big jazz festival in Austria, once at a small venue in Atlanta. I was so close to him in Atlanta I could see the knob settings on his Arp.
(I just realized that sounds vaguely naughty, but what the heck.)
I love McLaughlin (saw him at the same Atlanta venue, forgot the name of it, I'm sure it's not there any more, but it was in the same strip mall as Wuxtry records across from Evans Fine Foods) as well, but I'm surprised no Al Dimeola in RTF 2. What's up with that?
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Chick and Al apparently had a falling out. I know Al had a kinda feud with Frank Gambale and maybe that was the issue with Chick.
The surprise is that, no Stanley Clarke either; I thought they were on good terms and played about 3 yrs ago. Maybe just schedule conflict. It has been interesting seeing these other bassists though. Never realized how good Eddie Gomez is (Leprechaun band) and Victor too. He played some upright, and his "guitar" bass was the acoustic type like Steve Swallow uses. Perfect fit for RTF I.
I'll look into that Hancock project -- he is one of the few guys comparable to Chick. I just about wore out their duo album years ago on vinyl.
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Going tomorrow to the Blue Note, NYC with John McLaughlin.
Looking forward to it....
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VSOP was huge in 1976. Okay now I'm starting to feel older. Originally Posted by Sam Sherry
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We expect a full review on Friday... Originally Posted by fireman12engine
;-)
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That might be the Great Southeast Music Hall...only a guess though. I saw McLaughlin there with the One Truth Band circa 1978. Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
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Quote
fireman12engine
Going tomorrow to the Blue Note, NYC with John McLaughlin.
Looking forward to it....
Hey, enjoy! If you're new to that club: in my experience, the best seats are towards the middle for a guitar view, the front for a piano view; don't want to be too far to the back.
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... front/middle meaning relative to the door.
And as for Gomez, yeah, just big fat notes that jump out. And amazing bow-work on one song.
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I thought the Great Southeast Music Hall was in Chattanooga?? Originally Posted by Eric Rowland
The music venue is no longer there--was next to the Rainbow Foods, where I think there is a mattress store now. Wuxtry--GREAT used record store, the Athens branch of which was where Peter Buck met Michael Stipe--is on the left, and there used to be a guitar store called Diapason where I took lessons for a few years. I got a bicycle at the Bicycle South store there.
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Okay, the mashup of RTF and Mahavishnu ... WOW!
First I had to wait outside in snow-like conditions for an hour. Then I could only get a seat in the far back corner. It was a madhouse.
It turned out to be an okay seat though, in terms of viewing angle. And it was a cool table full of progressive rock fans.
The show was dominated by McLaughlin. I was expecting an RTF show with John filling in for Al. Instead it was more like Chick saying, "here's a party for my friend John." Most of the tunes were John's. The only 2 of RTF were a gorgeous "Romantic Warrior" with Chick on acoustic and John's snarly electric. Victor Wooten played the bowed parts on a bass guitar. Very cool! -- and a quick intense "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy" for an encore.
Other highlights were Chick's wife, Gayle Moran, joining the band to sing "500 Miles High"; an extended jam on "All Blues" with guests: Kenny Garrett on alto, Wallace Roney on trumpet, and Bela Flek on banjo. Garrett was absolutely on fire for this one, I mean they had to call the Fire Department.
It was so cool to see how McLaughlin fit into this group. He has an energy and intensity that are really something to see. Both he and Al are virtuoso shred-Gods, but their phrasing is completely different.
Chick was his usual nonchalant incredible all night, of course. Just an amazing feat he pulled off here!
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What a show!!!!, I was at the early show on the 8th and it was the first time they played together and joked about it being a dress rehearsal. They even redid the ending of a RTF song cause they messed it up but it didn't matter they were great... Originally Posted by JazzinNY
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I SO WANTED TO SEE THIS. THE ONE AND ONLY LEPRECHAUN. I was one of the lucky ones who signed up for his master classes that he live streams and because I did the pre sign up before the site was launched I guess I have lifetime access. Originally Posted by JazzinNY
This is one BAAAAAD dude REGARDLESS of instrument and I have stolen a bunch of ideas from him. He's a MONSTER and I have spent YEARS with two of his songs I love SOO MUCH - Spain and Got a Match.
Can't WAIT for the DVDs. I'm so happy for you!!!
PS: I saw RTF with Al DiMeola on guitar at The Greek in LA about 3 years ago.
Two years later, I saw Chick and Stanley Clark at The Catalina Bar and Grill.
I WISH I was back in NYCLast edited by West LA Jazz; 12-13-2016 at 02:55 PM.
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For what it's worth, there were cameraphones in abundance. Me, I want the DVDs. When I asked guy at door, he just said "we'll see."
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Nice! John is almost 75 and still ripping it up! Victor Wooten ALWAYS seems to show up where monster players gather. LOL Originally Posted by JazzinNY
He loves that PRS btw. Says it's great for chording.
Thanks for sharing.Last edited by West LA Jazz; 12-13-2016 at 07:50 PM.
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