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Chick Corea will pay tribute to one of his musical heroes with "Further Explorations of Bill Evans," a two-week engagement at the Blue Note in New York from May 4 - 9 and May 11 - 16. He will perform obscure compositions by Bill Evans, as well as his own new songs written in the spirit of the Bill Evans trio. Former Evans bandmates Eddie Gomez (bass) and Paul Motian (drums) will accompany Chick in performing Evans standards along with new Corea originals. Other Evans alumni are expected to appear as special guests throughout the two weeks, including John Scofield (5/12) and Hubert Laws (5/13), among others. "Bill Evans as a pianist, as a composer and a friend whom I met and talked to a precious few times, created a world of music that has brought pleasure and fascination to musicians, pianists especially, and music lovers for decades now," says Chick of Evans. "Putting Eddie's amazing mind together with the constantly fresh and wide vision that Paul has brought to jazz has been an idea that has grown in my mind for years now." *Note that young pianists Julian Pollack and Pascal Le Boeuf will open for Chick Corea on Wednesday, May 5 and May 12, respectively, from 6:30 to 7:30pm at no additional charge as a part of the Blue Note's Emerging Artist Series presented by Brother Thelonious of North Coast Brewing Company.
WHEN: Two Week Run: Tuesday, May 4 - Sunday, May 9; Tuesday, May 11 - Sunday, May 16, 2010; Sets @ 8:00pm & 10:30pmWITH: Chick Corea, piano; Eddie Gomez, bass; Paul Motian, drums; special guests John Scofield, guitar (5/12 only); Hubert Laws, flute (5/13 only) COST: $65 @ table /$40 @ barOPENING ACTS: Julian Pollack Three-O; Wednesday, May 5, 2010, 6:30pm - 7:30pm featuring Julian Pollack, piano; Noah Garabedian, bass; EVan Hughes, drums; Pascal's Triangle; Wednesday, May 12, 2010; 6:30pm - 7:30pm featuring Pascal Le Boeuf, piano; Linda Oh, bass; Joe Saylor, drums; all at no additional charge.WHERE: The Blue Note; 131 W 3rd. St, New York, NY 10012MORE: Doors open at 6pm. Set times are 8pm and 10:30pm nightly.BIO: At an age when most people have already quietly slipped into retirement, Chick Corea, who turns 69 in June, has no interest whatsoever in idly resting on his laurels. The master pianist-keyboardist-bandleader-composer has not only been a peripatetic road warrior in recent years, but has also revved up his lifelong prolific artistry a notch or two. One of the most creatively restless and indefatigably imaginative jazz artists in the history of the music, Corea defies easy categorization - equally at home in acoustic and electric settings, eager to find new ways of expression with old friends and quick to explore new partnerships with youthful adventure-seekers.
In the past three years alone, Corea has been tilling incredibly fertile soil. He reunited the seminal jazz-rock fusion band Return to Forever, with its classic lineup of Stanley Clarke on bass, Al Di Meola on guitar, and Lenny White on drums, for their first tour in 25 years. Hot on the heels of that triumph, he co-led a new ensemble, Five Peace Band, marking the first time he and guitarist John McLaughlin have joined forces in a group setting of their own fashioning (they both appeared together on Miles Davis' BITCHES BREW album in 1969). But these two powerful accomplishments only scratch the surface of what Corea has been passionately engaged with in recent years. He creates, and he's propelled to do more because, he says, he's at his happiest when faced with new creative challenges."Nothing in my creative world has changed in a major way since the very beginning of my music making," says Corea, who started his recording career as a leader in 1966 with Tones For Joan's Bones, followed by the classic Now He Sings, Now He Sobs in 1968. "I still, as always, love pursuing something new and refreshing. I consider that the only experience I want to give others with music is one I'm totally immersed in. I like the audience to sense the challenge and risk that's being taken in the act of improvisation. When that excitement of discovery is communicated through the music, I feel the goal has been achieved-at least for that moment."
As for the variety of disparate projects Corea has been involved in recently, he notes that they all form different facets in his vision as an artist. "Each one has its own life based on the musicians I'm creating with," he says. "I find it rewarding to make music with so many different and great musicians. It fulfills my desire to learn from them."In looking back at the last few years, Corea says that there's no rhyme or reason to how it's developed. "I have never looked at my own work as a musician to have some logical progression from one thing developing into another," he says. "I see each new project as a totally new act of creation. I feel blessed to be so rich in such amazingly talented friends and musical partners."Corea's career has been rich and diverse. He collaborated with Miles Davis, forged fusion explorations with Return to Forever, performed solo piano improvisations, composed children's songs and formed new groups (such as his '80-90s Elektrik and Akoustic bands) when his creative expression called for the gathering of new mates. At this period of time, Corea continues to create abundantly. "I see a lifetime of an artist as having two opposite vectors," he says. "One is the pleasure of constantly learning and improving and expanding upon the art form. The other vector goes the other way, and that's the body as it grows older. The body is born and is young with the vitality of youth, then it grows old, starts to decline then dies. Two opposing trends. The body just needs to be managed as well as possible, but the fertility [of creating] is fortunately all spiritual-and in this sense I feel creatively the best I've ever felt."
