Drum News – Dan's Drum Lessons latest shows, bands, articles, reviews and more

Chick Corea RTF IV

Chick Corea is one of the worlds best Jazz pianists and when it was suggested that he perhaps has played more individual notes than any other Jazz pianist in recorded history - he laughed at the notion!

The keyboardist and composer would, in essence, be up against guys like Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock and Cecil Taylor who probably produces many more notes with his solos and has been around much longer.

Chick has toured tirelessly over the years with many different musicians, this time he will be bringing Return To Forever IV.

"I've got to get my note meter," he said from a bus on which he eternally travels. "It's an interesting question, and I'd love to have the answer."

Over the past 40 years Chick Corea's own bands are legendary and ear-overwhelming with cutting-edge Jazz.

His career started as a sideman for Stan Getz and Miles Davis, this was before he co-founded a group with the great sax player Anthony Braxton.

Putting Return To Forever on hold for a many years while he explored other musical obsessions, he is now back with his array of electric keyboards and exhibishionist collaborators. Now 70 years young and is in the midst of something like an energetic resurgence.

The current edition of Return To Forever includes bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White. Frank Gambale, who had spent years in the early Corea's Elektric Band who also recorded To The Stars with Corea, will be playing Guitar and one time Frank Zappa sideman/Mahavishnu Orchestra Violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, who has never tourred with Corea will be performing.

"He's a favorite of mine," Corea said of Ponty before saying that he does not consider himself to be the leader of the group. "I'm the founder but this is a quintet of master musicians. Everyone is playing their hearts out."

After all this time and 16 Grammy Awards later "Has Corea altered his percussive approach to the Piano and other Keyboard instruments?" "I usually don't look at it that way," he said. "I've been rolling along on a string of making music from year to year, as we go through a techno robot '1984' civilization."

The Return To Forever IV kicks off this Saturday.