Armando Anthony “Chick” Corea – June 12, 1941. Is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist and composer. As a member of Miles Davis’ band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of electric jazz fusion movement. Alongside contemporaries such as Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner and Keith Jarrett, Corea has been described as some of the major jazz piano voices to emerge in the post- John Coltrane era.
Corea was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He is of Sicilian and Spanish decent. At age 4 Corea’s father, himself a musician, introduced him to piano. Corea would eventually move to New York to study music, but quit after finding the course disappointing. He remained in New York and became involved in the music scene which would become the start of his professional career.
In the 1960s Corea contributed to a number of albums. In 1966 he recorded his first as the leader of his own band. The album was titled ‘Tones for Joan’s Bones. In the late 60’s, Corea had associations with avant garde players and his solo style revealed a dissonant, avant garde orientation. In September 1968 Corea replaced Herbie Hancock in Davis’ band and appeared in landmark albums such as ‘Filles de Kilimanjaro’, ‘In a Silent Way’ and ‘Bitches Brew’.
In the early 1970s Corea took a profound stylistic turn from avant garde playing to a crossover jazz fusion style that incorportated jazz elements. He founded Return to Forever in 1971. The band had a fusion sound even though it relied on electronic instrumentation it drew more on Brazilian and Spanish-American musical styles than on rock music. The group released its final studio record in 1977. Thereafter, Corea focused on solo projects.
Corea’s later career and current work is based around a return to his more traditional jazz and acoustic recordings. In 1992 he started his own label, Stretch Records. Corea continues to experiment with jazz fusion concept albums and won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental album with ‘Ultimate Adventure’ in 2006.
