Piano Originals
Chick Corea has long favored unaccompanied piano performance and has recorded several solo albums, starting withPiano Improvisations(volumes I andII) and continuing throughExpressions. Now we have two more: this one, devoted to originals, anda companion discthat explores a range of pop and jazz standards. Both albums were drawn from 1999 concerts recorded in Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, and Japan.Originalscontains music that is sweet and melodic, and music that is challenging and even a bit jarring. Corea employs his alternately sparkling-then-dusky touch, immaculate articulation, and limitless imagination as he delves into 13 of his own pieces, save two freely interpreted, lyrically stunning Preludes byAlexander Scriabin. Included are a couple of Corea standards: the jaunty "Armando's Rhumba," given a delightfully spirited reading; and the evergreen "Spain," distinguished by strands of enchanting ideas. Then there's the pastoral yet lively "Brasilia," where between paraphrases of the attractive theme, the pianist offers garlands of alternately serene and animated improvisations. The somewhat more intense "Yellow Nimbus" finds thickets of notes and hard-hit chords contrasted by songlike passages. There are four improvised on-the-spot numbers and three "Children's Songs." "No. 6" is playful yet deep, offering dancing chords and zesty lines, while the freely improvised "No. 12" finds Corea generally letting his fertile mind go where it will.--Zan Stewart