Chick Korea

Chick Corea's four decade career is the stuff of jazz lore, an amalgamation of influential, limit-stretching musical experiences which have filled many a page in 20th century music history encyclopedias. Born Armando Anthony Corea in Chelsea, Massachusetts on June 12, 1941, Chick was studying piano by age four and enjoyed a childhood home filled with the sounds of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Lester Young and Horace Silver - not to mention the likes of Beethoven and Mozart, who inspired Chick's compositional instincts.

Chick's earliest compositions were recorded during one of his first professional stints, three years with trumpeter Blue Mitchell ('64-'66), which led up to the pianist's first project as a leader, Tones For Jones Bones. Early gigs with the likes of Willie Bobo, Cal Tjader, Herbie Mann and Mongo Santamaria instilled a love of Latin music, prevalent in much of Chick's early work. After a year accompanying Sarah Vaughan, he rose to true prominence in the jazz world by joining Miles Davis' band playing electric piano. In his years with Miles, Chick played on the ground breaking classic fusion recording Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way. From there, Chick formed his own avante-garde improvisational group, Circle, with bassist Dave Holland, drummer Barry Altschul and saxman Anthony Braxton.

In 1971, after three years of Circle, Chick changed his focus. Jazz has never been quite the same since the birth of Return to Forever.…