Chick Corea and Steve Gadd have history. In 1965, Corea briefly joined Chuck Mangione's band when Gadd was the drummer then, in 1973, when Corea's acoustic Return to Forever was transitioning into an electric band (inspired, incidentally, by Mahavishnu Orchestra), Gadd came in on drums – he actually recorded Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy with RTF, but when he left because of his disinclination to go on the road it was re-recorded with his successor, Lenny White. Gadd was also the drummer on Corea's The Leprechaun and My Spanish Heart in 1976, whose mix of electric jazz and latin rhythms are echoed on Chinese Butterfly, and Three Quartets, from 1981, a bona fide Corea classic. Last year, they finally decided to put some time aside to work together again, and the Corea/Gadd band was a consistent thread running throughout Corea's crowded tour schedule last year. Recorded in early 2017, Chinese Butterfly lends eloquent testament that age has not dimmed the enormous talents of either pianist or drummer (they're both in their seventies). Right from the opening track, ‘Chick's Chums', the band show they mean business. This 2CD set has no shortage of highlights, Corea's keyboard mastery on ‘A Spanish Song’ or the wildly eclectic (but fun) showcase for Gadd called, er, ‘Gadd-zooks’. Steve Wilson is featured on the title-track, while Lionel Loueke does what he does on guitar and vocals on ‘Serenity’. The second CD comprises three tracks, including an excellent revisitation to Gadd's and Corea's shared history with ‘Return to Forever’. There are no dates currently booked for the band in 2018, but it would be a shame if this ensemble did not pick up from where they left off if Chinese Butterfly is anything to go by. You sense much could come from this association if they chose.