Chick Corea: Trilogy 2

Editor's Choice

Rating: ★★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Christian McBride (b)
Chick Corea (p)
Brian Blade (d)

Label:

Concord Jazz

Dec/Jan/2019/2020

Media Format:

2CD

Catalogue Number:

CJA00183

RecordDate:

2010-2016

As the 78-year-old Chick Corea reminded UK audiences at this summer's Love Supreme festival, wear and tear doesn't touch the relish, grace and inventiveness with which he has performed in a multiplicity of styles all his life. But, as an early admirer of Bud Powell and Bill Evans, Corea has regularly returned to trio line-ups, and this one (with bass maestro Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade) deservedly brought him two Grammys in 2014 for the first of its Trilogy sessions. Now comes the much-requested second, a double-album which discreetly sidesteps mentioning recording dates but which appears to have been drawn from various performances with the same partners in the US and Europe since late 2010. But whether recent or current, nothing stops Corea's irrepressible musicality and pleasure in jamming with kindred spirits from exerting its melodiously laidback charm. ‘How Deep Is The Ocean’ kicks the collection off with a glossy masterclass in fresh lyrical invention and canny accompaniment, an eagerly impulsive ‘Work’ and a languid ‘Crepuscule With Nellie’ celebrate Corea's affection for Thelonious Monk (and also his partners’ adroitness at the rhythm-juggling it invites), favourite Corea originals like ‘500 Miles High’, ‘La Fiesta’ and ‘Now He Sings, Now He Sobs’ are given freewheeling makeovers, and a throbbing and increasingly urgent account of ‘All Blues’ typically develops a high-stepping, dancelike feel that distinguishes it from its brooding source. Maybe Trilogy 2 is for Chick Corea completists, but it's premier-league spontaneous music-making for all that.

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