Jazz, the pianist Chick Corea died: he was 79 years old – Corriere.it

“I want to thank everyone who, along the way, has helped to make the fire of music shine.” With this message posted shortly before his death on Tuesday, American jazz legend Chick Corea said goodbye to the world, carried away by a rare form of cancer at age 79. The musician, who over the course of a long career spanning more than five decades, had won 23 Grammy Awards, the highest music award for which he had been nominated 60 times, had established himself as a brilliant pianist in the early 1960s. , working with Stan Getz, Herbie Mann, and many other jazz stars.

By 1968, he had replaced Herbie Hancock in the Miles Davis group., playing on landmark albums like “In a Silent Way” and “Bitches Brew”. After starting his first group, Circle, he founded Return to Forever, and later worked on many other projects, including duets with Hancock and vibraphonist Gary Burton. In the decades that followed, Korea had thrown itself into countless projects, showcasing the limitless versatility of its talent, from a duet with vibraphonist Gary Burton to the Elektric Band. He has recorded and performed classical, standard, original soloists, Latin jazz fusion, and tributes to great jazz pianists with the same class.

Last year, Korea released the double album “Plays”., whose tracks he performed at various concerts simply armed with his piano. “As a runner who loves to run because it is simply beautiful – he declared – I like to play the piano just because it is beautiful. I can just change gears and go in another direction, “he added,” or move on to another song or whatever else I want to do. It is a constant experiment. The double album is an excursion to the musical heart of Korea: it contains songs that the great musician wrote decades ago, as well as songs by Mozart, Thelonious Monk and Stevie Wonder, among others.

Korea is the artist with the most Grammy awards for jazz in 63 years history of the show and there is a possibility that he will win a posthumous one during the ceremony on March 14, where he is nominated for best improvised jazz solo for “All Blues” and best instrumental jazz album for “Trilogy 2”. «I hope that those who feel the need to play, write, act in a show can do so. If not for themselves, then for us. Not only because the world needs more artists, but because it is more fun, “he added at the end of his post. The last of an irreplaceable musician.