Chick Corea: Solo Piano, Barbican Hall

Chick Corea is one of the few undisputed greats of jazz still at the peak of his powers. He is also one of the most diversely gifted of jazz pianists, having created original work in a wider range of genres than many, from grooving jazz-rock to the most airily abstract improvisation. Starting early, by his mid twenties he had already recorded with Stan Getz and established a glowing reputation on the New York scene. 

Joining Miles Davis’ band in 1968 at the height of Davis’ fame, he toured major festivals worldwide, and recorded on some of Davis’ best-loved and most original albums, including Bitches Brew and Filles de Kilimanjaro. In 1970 he left to form the quartet Circle, making ambitiously pitter-pattering non-tonal improvisation, but became frustrated at the lack of an audience for their music, and focused his energy instead on Return to Forever, an electric, Latin-tinged jazz-rock outfit. During the rest of the 1970s, this group made some of Corea’s best-loved albums, including Return to Forever and Light as a Feather.

Since the 1980s, he has concentrated more on solo and duo piano work, in the distinguished company of players like Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett and Gary Burton. Many of his compositions have become mainstream jazz repertoire, distinguished by his life-long musical goal of combining the subtlety of classical composers with the dancing energy of jazz and folk. 

Corea’s Barbican performance is titled after his new solo album, Portraits, released early in 2014. The title derives from an unusually personal kind of improvisation that Corea occasionally includes in his solo shows. Having recruited volunteers from the audience, he sits them down next to the piano, and proceeds to paint a musical “portrait” unique to each individual. 

Not only a powerhouse of musical imagination, Corea is also one of the last of the generation that knew and worked with Miles Davis. An unmissable jazz event.