Chick Corea, a versatile Jazz pianist whose career spans several decades, has died according to reports. The legendary musician was battling a rare form of cancer, according to details provided by his family.
Armando Anthony Corea was born on June 12, 1941, in Chelsea, Mass., was influenced by his father, a Jazz trumpeter of South Italian descent. Corea’s father played in clubs around Boston, which a young Chick witnessed and developed an interest in the musical genre. He began playing live shows while still in high school ahead of a stint in New York City to study music at both Columbia University and the Juilliard School, quitting both early.
Corea began his professional career in the 1960s with Willie Bobo, Blue Mitchell, Herbie Mann, Stan Getz, and Mongo Santamaria, all known names in the Jazz world. As a bandleader, Corea recorded his debut Tones for Joan’s Bones in 1966 and it was released two years later.
As a session player for Miles Davis, Corea played the electronic piano, using a device called the ring modulator. This innovation gave way to the heavy electronic experimentation heard in the burgeoning Jazz Fusion scene in the early 1970s. It was this style of music that Corea earned many of his chief accolades and his playing left an indelible mark on the genre as a whole.
Corea eventually made his return to a more traditional jazz sound by way of the acoustic piano, replaying standards of the legends before him. Corea’s final studio album as a bandleader, Plays, was released last year.
Over the course of his career, Corea won 23 Grammy Awards and was nominated over 60 times. He released 81 studio albums, several live albums, and dozens of collaborations with other Jazz players.
Across Twitter, Corea’s name is trending with fans giving their respects to the pianist.
Segunda entrega del nuevo proyecto musical de Kase.O titulado DIVERTIMENTOS Vol.1. Como ya vimos en la canción “El gordo que la pisa bien” dentro de este disco vamos a encontrar la colaboración musical de Escandaloso Xpósito en el saxo (su instrumento favorito) y la percusión, y también encontramos la colaboración de Harto en la producción.
TIRANOSAURIUS REX es una canción con una temática más personal donde Kase.O toma una postura de consejero de vida y nos da algunas lecciones para poder llevar la fiesta en paz y armonía. Algo diferente y un poco hasta más divertido, haciendo juego entre rimas veloces y el saxo de Xpósito, que cobra más vida que en la otra canción del disco.
Esto es un abrebocas a lo que serán las demás canciones del disco, donde nuevamente, el maño busca sonidos urbanos del rap mezclados con la música del saxo, una mezcla que ya había experimentado en su proyecto con la banda jazz magnetism empezando la década del 2010 (del cual Xpósito también hacía parte).
If you’re unfamiliar with rapper and ghostwriter Skyzoo, do yourself a favor and get familiar with his vast catalog of heat. The Brooklyn MC is prepping a new Jazz-influenced release and dropped a new song to cap the announcement of the upcoming project.
Via Facebook, the First Generation Rich (FGR) honcho shared that his new EP, cleverly titled The Bluest Note, will be a collaboration between him and the Italian Jazz band, Dumbo Nation and will drop on April 4. A single, “Good Enough Reasons,” was released today.
Since my debut album, I’ve never released a project that didn’t include a moment of jazz influence, some sort of live instrumentation, something that connected my lyricism with the truest definition of musical lyricism; jazz. As much as I’ve incorporated my favorite genre of music with my other favorite genre of music, this is the first time I’ve been able to craft an entire project based on jazz production from top to bottom. This album is a testament to something I’d been longing to do for as far back as I can remember.
Being able to do it with Italy’s renowned jazz band Dumbo Station was an absolute honor. From writing musical arrangements with them and having them bring them to life to us being in the studio in Rome Italy with one another for each song, it’s a perfect union and execution of what I foresaw when I began to sketch out the album.
The Bluest Note will feature six songs, which S-K-Y-Z-O-O said pays tribute to the classic Jazz albums of old which also employed the brevity strategy.
As the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 ravages the nation, the grave situation has affected notable figures as well. Ellis Marsalis, a legend in New Orleans jazz circles, has died after suffering complications from COVID-19.
Ellis Louis Marsalis Jr. was born on Nov. 14, 1934, in New Orleans. The jazz pianist graduated from Dillard University and attended graduate school at Loyola University New Orleans. While the patriarch of the sprawling Marsalis musical family was adept at his instrument, passing on the knowledge he acquired as a teacher gave him greater fulfillment.
Marsalis was the chief instructor for his talented sons Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo, and Jason Marsalis. He also taught the likes of Harry Connick Jr., Terence Blanchard, and other future jazz figures of the later generations. After working at the high school level at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, the city’s first school to be focused solely on public arts, Marsalis then joined the faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University ahead of returning home to teach at the University of New Orleans.
As a bandleader, Marsalis left the comfort of the classroom and released well over a dozen recordings, including projects with his sons Wynton, Branford, and Delfeayo. Marsalis was also still very active as a player, working a weekly gig for over 30 years before retiring this year.
The Phi Beta Fraternity, Inc. member was inducted into the Lousiana Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2011, Marsalis and his sons were given the NEA Jazz Masters Award. In 2007, Tulane University awarded Marsalis an honorary doctorate for his many contributions to New Orleans jazz music.
Robert Glasper is an extremely busy man. If he’s not putting out new work like his latest project, F*ck Yo Feelings, he’s assisting friends such as Terrace Martin, Herbie Hancock, and PJ Morton with their own projects. One would wonder just how the award-winning composer and pianist spend his downtime between sessions. Well, last month, Glasper brought his talents to New York City’s Blue Note for the aptly dubbed “Robtober” event at the landmark Jazz venue. Rapsody Says She’s The GOAT In A Verse That Proves She’s 1 Of Hip-Hop’s Best MCs While Glasper is no stranger to a packed schedule, his 28-day, 56-show run at The Blue Note found him performing many of his various projects and offering tributes to the likes of Stevie Wonder, the late Roy Hargrove, and the incomparable J Dilla. Backing him on this adventure was his original Experiment quartet, featuring bassist Derrick Hodge, multi-instrumentalist Casey Benjamin, and drummer Chris Dave. Add to this mix impromptu appearances from a who’s who of Hip-Hop, including Yasiin Bey and Terrace Martin. Meanwhile, actor Miles Brown appear, activist Angela Davis, and comedian Dave Chappelle were among those part of the behind-the-scenes ensemble that joined Robert in Manhattan. Yasiin Bey, Talib Kweli & Anderson .Paak Rock The Stage With Robert Glasper (Videos) Glasper has shared a black-and-white video of behind-the-scenes footage, putting his superstar-studded guest list and pristine playing chops on full displays with an array of cameo appearances from Chappelle (who introduced Glasper at night #1 of the residency), Q-Tip, Sacha Baron Cohen, Tiffany Haddish, Anderson .Paak, and Bradley Cooper. It all comes to a head with a captivating excerpt from Glasper’s tribute to the Detroit producing legend with Chris Dave and T3 of Slum Village, respectively adding on some much-appreciated layers. Common, Brandy, Robert Glasper & Karriem Riggins’ Video Breathes Hope Into Hard TimesF*ck Yo Feelings, which plays in the video, features Rapsody, Denzel Curry, Buddy, Terrace Martin, and Mick Jenkins, among others. The Robert Glasper Experiment has touring dates beginning in December.
If the debate for the King of R&B is up for grabs, followers of the late great James Brown can rest easy, as his position among the greatest to ever do it, is secure as a Master padlock. Known indelibly as the “Godfather of Soul Music,” Brown’s career covered successive generations that stretched from chitlin circuit pit-stops in the ’60s, through his own Funk era and ultimately, the birth of Hip-Hop. In the Netflix original documentary, Mr. Dynamite: The Rise Of James Brown, the life and times of the oft referred “hardest working man in show business,” is examined fully. Questlove, Chuck D, Nelson George, Greg Tate, and others appear in the doc’.
It is common knowledge that Brown’s influence on Hip-Hop has been acknowledged and celebrated through countless samples – “Funky Drummer” being the most popular – but who knew Brown dipped into the sampling pool himself?
As it turns out, Brown’s saxophonist and bandleader, Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis, was called into James’ dressing room one night after a thunderous performance in the summer of 1967. Never formally trained to read music, Brown explained to Ellis that he had something in his head he needed to be transformed into song.
“I started putting notations to his grunts,” Ellis remembers with a hearty laugh at the 57:00-mark of the film, “which came out to be the bass line of ‘Cold Sweat.’”
Ellis goes on to explain that he had been listening to Miles Davis’ “So What,” which “popped up” while he was developing the track that would eventually become “Cold Sweat.”
“So I took that [dee dumph] part and repeated it over and over,” Ellis explains. “Then we added a very important guitar part, contrasting all of that – which is funky all by itself.”
An unquestionable masterpiece, “Cold Sweat” has been cited, by some (including in George’s The Death Of Rhythm & Blues) as the first true Funk song for all its moving parts. Aside from Brown’s grunts that laid the groundwork for the beat, the finished track borrowed from his previously-released “I Don’t Care” in 1962. Moreover, it incorporated Brown’s signature screams and solos from Maceo Parker on sax, and Clyde Stubblefield on drums.
“I didn’t write it to be so monumental,” Ellis confesses, “but my Jazz influence was creeping into his R&B, so the combination of the two is where the Funk came from.”
During the late 70s, when Brown was said to be losing a step, his Funk music was hot as ever in the Hip-Hop community and among DJs. Albums like Get On The Good Foot and Sex Machine were in heavy rotation, while “Give It Up Or Turn It Loose” provided breaks that proved to be something of a goldmine. But it was the unlikely “Funky Drummer” that catapulted “Mr. Please Please” to un-chartered territory.
For the record, the actual Funky Drummer was not very fond of the tune. “I hate that song,” the late Clyde Stubblefield affirms in the doc. “We all was so tired and didn’t even want to record. So I started playing just the drum pattern. Brown liked it. We recorded it, and it came out ‘Funky Drummer.’”
#BonusBeat: The trailer for Mr. Dynamite: The Rise Of JamesBrown:
If the debate for the King of R&B is up for grabs, followers of the late great James Brown can rest easy, as his position among the greatest to ever do it, is secure as a Master padlock. Known indelibly as the “Godfather of Soul Music,” Brown’s career covered successive generations that stretched from chitlin circuit pit-stops in the ’60s, through his own Funk era and ultimately, the birth of Hip-Hop. In the Netflix original documentary, Mr. Dynamite: The Rise Of James Brown, the life and times of the oft referred “hardest working man in show business,” is examined fully. Questlove, Chuck D, Nelson George, Greg Tate, and others appear in the doc’.
It is common knowledge that Brown’s influence on Hip-Hop has been acknowledged and celebrated through countless samples – “Funky Drummer” being the most popular – but who knew Brown dipped into the sampling pool himself?
As it turns out, Brown’s saxophonist and bandleader, Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis, was called into James’ dressing room one night after a thunderous performance in the summer of 1967. Never formally trained to read music, Brown explained to Ellis that he had something in his head he needed to be transformed into song.
“I started putting notations to his grunts,” Ellis remembers with a hearty laugh at the 57:00-mark of the film, “which came out to be the bass line of ‘Cold Sweat.’”
Ellis goes on to explain that he had been listening to Miles Davis’ “So What,” which “popped up” while he was developing the track that would eventually become “Cold Sweat.”
“So I took that [dee dumph] part and repeated it over and over,” Ellis explains. “Then we added a very important guitar part, contrasting all of that – which is funky all by itself.”
An unquestionable masterpiece, “Cold Sweat” has been cited, by some (including in George’s The Death Of Rhythm & Blues) as the first true Funk song for all its moving parts. Aside from Brown’s grunts that laid the groundwork for the beat, the finished track borrowed from his previously-released “I Don’t Care” in 1962. Moreover, it incorporated Brown’s signature screams and solos from Maceo Parker on sax, and Clyde Stubblefield on drums.
“I didn’t write it to be so monumental,” Ellis confesses, “but my Jazz influence was creeping into his R&B, so the combination of the two is where the Funk came from.”
During the late 70s, when Brown was said to be losing a step, his Funk music was hot as ever in the Hip-Hop community and among DJs. Albums like Get On The Good Foot and Sex Machine were in heavy rotation, while “Give It Up Or Turn It Loose” provided breaks that proved to be something of a goldmine. But it was the unlikely “Funky Drummer” that catapulted “Mr. Please Please” to un-chartered territory.
For the record, the actual Funky Drummer was not very fond of the tune. “I hate that song,” the late Clyde Stubblefield affirms in the doc. “We all was so tired and didn’t even want to record. So I started playing just the drum pattern. Brown liked it. We recorded it, and it came out ‘Funky Drummer.’”
Jazz lovers and the music world, in general, is joined in mourning after news that legendary vocalist Nancy Wilson has passed away. The Grammy Award-winning Ohio native had one of the genre’s most distinctive singing styles and a body of work that spanned over the course of decades.
Born in Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1937, Wilson has recounted in interviews that she started singing around age 3 or 4.
“I have always just sung. I have never questioned what it is. I thank God for it and I just do it,” she told Marian McPartland, host of NPR’s Piano Jazz in 1994.
She never had formal training but was influenced by Dinah Washington, Nat “King” Cole, and others. Wilson says she knew at an early age what she would do for a living.
During her decades-long career, Wilson performed jazz ballads, standards, torch songs, show tunes and pop songs. She told McPartland that she loves a song with a good story and good lyrics. A song that has a beginning, middle and an end.
After attending Central State College in Ohio for one year, she left to pursue music full time. She had been touring continuously in her 20s when she met saxophonist Cannonball Adderley. He suggested she move to New York and in 1959 she did. Many successful singles and albums followed.
Wilson won three Grammys and recorded well over 70 albums, with one of those awards coming by way of her 2006 album, Turned To Blue. She also worked alongside the aforementioned Adderley and jazz legend Ramsey Lewis as well.
