Remembering Chick Corea

Chick Corea, the American jazz composer, keyboardist, bandleader and occasional percussionist, passed away on Tuesday following a brief battle with a rare form of cancer. He was 79.

In the 1960s, Corea was a member of Miles Davis’ band. Following a brief collaboration with the avant-garde jazz ensemble, Circle, Corea founded the band Return to Forever in 1971. The group went on to pioneer the jazz fusion movement in the 1970s, opening the door to Latin American and rock influences. A new group, Chick Corea Elektric Band, was formed in the 1980s and continued to perform for more than 20 years.

Here is Chick Corea’s Windows from the 1968 album, Now He Sings, Now He Sobs. Corea is joined by bassist Miroslav Vitouš and drummer Roy Haynes.

Here is Quartet No. 1 from the 1981 album, Three Quartets, a vibrant collaboration with saxophonist Michael Brecker, bassist Eddie Gómez and drummer Steve Gadd.

I believe that any “awareness” of life is “spiritual” since awareness can only be a quality of the spirit not of the material world or of matter and machines. Only a spiritual being has awareness. But if you mean “spiritual” in the sense of a kind of “celebration of Life”, then yes, I write music to celebrate life. I think most artists do, no matter how they themselves describe it. It’s the joy of creating. It’s a way of life.

I call myself a teacher because they want me to call myself a teacher, but actually, what I’m doing is I’m studying.

-Chick Corea

Recordings

  • Corea: Windows (Now He Sings, Now He Sobs), Chick Corea, Miroslav Vitouš Roy Haynes Amazon
  • Corea: Quartet No. 1 (Three Quartets), Chick Corea, Michael Brecker, Eddie Gómez, Steve Gadd Amazon

About Timothy Judd

A native of Upstate New York, Timothy Judd has been a member of the Richmond Symphony violin section since 2001. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he earned the degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, studying with world renowned Ukrainian-American violinist Oleh Krysa.

The son of public school music educators, Timothy Judd began violin lessons at the age of four through Eastman’s Community Education Division. He was a student of Anastasia Jempelis, one of the earliest champions of the Suzuki method in the United States.

A passionate teacher, Mr. Judd has maintained a private violin studio in the Richmond area since 2002 and has been active coaching chamber music and numerous youth orchestra sectionals.

In his free time, Timothy Judd enjoys working out with Richmond’s popular SEAL Team Physical Training program.

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