Corea.Concerto -- Chick Corea

Chick Corea
London Philharmonic Orchestra
featuring Origin

SK/SM 61799
Available on CD and minidisc

Grammy Award Winner!
Best Instrumental Arrangement, "Spain for Sextet and Orchestra"
Also nominated as Best Classical Crossover Album

"[Corea] writes and arranges for symphony orchestra with primary-source expertise, yet the jazz ensembles at the centres of these pieces nestle there snugly and precisely. He manages the music's elegant internal transitions with assured grace... Both of these compositions are an absolute joy to hear... This recording expertly unites some of the best aspects of the musical diversity of this century. I can think of no better example to carry with us into the next."
Gramophone Oct/Nov 99 Awards Issue

Watch a Corea.Concerto video (in RealVideo)

For the first time in his remarkable recording career, legendary jazz pianist Chick Corea has created an orchestral arrangement of his best-selling composition "Spain". This collaboration with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Corea's sextet Origin also features the world premiere recording of his first piano concerto.

Corea composed his signature piece "Spain" in 1973 for the seminal jazz-fusion band Return to Forever, which he founded after his stint as keyboard player for Miles Davis (with whom he made the landmark recordings In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew). "Spain" drew its inspiration from the same source as Miles' "Sketches of Spain" -- the famous guitar concerto by the late Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo titled "Concierto de Aranjuez". In his new arrangement, Corea uses the colors of the London Philharmonic Orchestra led by Steven Mercurio combined with the improvisational fire of Origin to bring the piece full circle.

Corea has also composed his first piano concerto, after a lifetime of devotion to the music of Stravinsky and Bartók, and a more recent interest in the piano concertos of Mozart. Corea has taken Mozart's typical orchestration -- merging all of the percussion into a jazz drum kit and adding marimba -- to create a sparklingly melodious new work for piano and orchestra with distinct flamenco flavors. Corea plays piano and conducts the London Philharmonic on Concerto No.1 for Piano and Orchestra.

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