Chick Corea: A Very Special Concert

Check out the stats: nearly an hour's worth of music; four tunes; four musicians. There's a lot of playing going on here, which might not be a good thing in the hands of lesser jazzbos. But this is pianist Chick Corea we're talking about; and with Stanley Clarke on bass, you've got two of the finest musicians of their generation. Along with drummer Lenny White, they burned through the ‘70s as members of Return to Forever, one of the premier fusion bands in an era when “fusion” actually meant something. Recorded in 1982, this show finds them in an acoustic setting, joined by tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson. Truth is, White was better suited to the electric thang, and while Henderson plays well, he also tends to serve up too many notes without saying a whole lot. But Corea is a joy--funky, bluesy, and no less of a virtuoso, but far more entertaining, than Keith Jarrett (then again, a colonoscopy is more fun than the ultra-serious Jarrett); listen to his comping behind Clarke's solo on “Why Wait,” or the way he dances through an inspired trio version of “500 Miles High.” Clarke, meanwhile, is simply a phenomenon; with his enormous hands, fingers of steel, and rock star mien, he was one of the two bass players (Jaco Pastorius was the other) to bring his instrument into the modern age. Presented in DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, this one's worth it for Corea and Clarke alone. Recommended. Aud: P. (S. Graham)