Pioneer of jazz fusion, Chick Corea gets talking about Miles Davis, improv music and India 

Chick Corea is a singular man in many ways. One of the best-regarded jazz musicians in the world, the 22-time Grammy Award winner has over 100 records to his credit and has written music with scores of decorated artistes from Herbie Hancock to John Mayer, yet his favourite way of creating sound is to start with no structure in mind. “Us wanting to jam, that’s a somewhere. But practically, it is a nowhere, like a song or a tempo or a lick.” While this may especially be true with the 77-year-old’s improvisational skills — which he so often puts on display through his records and his solo shows — Corea’s distinct sound comes from his love for melody and hard-earned piano techniques.

Miles from ordinary
He started out with the piano at the age of four, was introduced to the classics of Bach and Mozart by eight and enrolled in Columbia to study music at 18, though he only lasted there for a month. A decade later in 1968, Armando Anthony ‘Chick’ Corea had replaced pianist Herbie Hancock in Miles Davis’ band. In his collaborations with the genre-transcending music of Miles, Chick developed his own style of creating and interpreting music, and played the electric piano on the groundbreaking experimental albums Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way — both critically acclaimed records that solidified the genre which came to be known as jazz-rock fusion. “Working with Miles was one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve had. He was a great teacher and friend. Miles was unrestrained creatively, had an independent attitude towards music and life and set a very high standard for artistic integrity,” says the pianist, who is set to debut his solo concerts in New Delhi and Mumbai over the weekend.

Live unbounded  
A sole figure in the industry who has touched an astonishing number of musical bases from straight-ahead to bebop and children’s songs to chamber and symphonic works, all of Chick’s music is representative of how composing and improvising are two sides of the same coin. This could, in part, be due to the ad hoc music sessions with mentor Miles Davis and also from the approach which the Massachusetts-born musician has developed towards the piano — as a very complex drum. “I think of the piano like that...like a great big marimba. Or a percussion instrument. There are so many possibilities of putting it together when you’ve got 10 mallets and 88 drums,” as he revealed in a podcast. 

From kicking off his career with electronic jazz fusion and moving on to an avant-garde improvisational group before blending Latin elements into his sound, Chick Corea’s musical expeditions have taken him across a varied soundscape often leading to an amalgamation of classical music with jazz. “I have never paid much attention to ‘my sound.’ It’s the bringing together of what has become two almost separate worlds of music — the world of improvisation and the world of written music. The only answer for me is to continue to play any music that I play with the same aesthetic approach, which is to make it as beautiful as I can.”  

A passage to India
Counting the who’s who of the music world as part of his roster of collaborations over the last 60 years, from Herbie Hancock to bass guitarist John Patitucci, and banjoist Bela Fleck to vocalist Bobby McFerrin to name a few, Chick tells us the only thing he is looking for, from his collaborators, is inspiration. “I look for this quality when choosing my musical partners and projects.” Having played in the past with tabla maestro Zakhir Hussain, Chick reveals that John McLaughlin’s Shakti —of which the Hindustani music virtuoso was an integral part of — has been his favourite within a Hindustani classical context. However, what has the musician even more enamoured about his visit to India is its spirituality. “India’s spiritual history has always been a part of my life. To touch your land and explore it after almost a lifetime is quite exciting to me.” 

Always one to keep things free flowing — like most of his compositions — Chick Corea’s India set will have a diverse range of sounds from different composers across the years while also featuring some of his original work. 

Staccato notes:

On teaching music: “All beings are basically creative. That’s why it can’t be ‘taught.’ It only invalidates the being when you try to instruct someone in ‘how to be creative’.”

Favourite part of an album cycle: “These days, I make most of my recordings from live concerts. It’s where the spontaneity happens. I love all aspects of making a recording, including creating the package and look and liners.”

Live concerts vs recorded albums: “I love making music for live audiences. It’s one of the most fulfilling things about art. ”

Chick Corea: Solo Piano from Mozart to Monk to Corea. In Mumbai on November 3 and New Delhi on November 4.