Chick Corea and Bela Fleck at the Paramount Theater

If you know me, you know that I have seen Chick Corea and Bela Fleck perform individually numerous times. When I became aware that they had recorded an album together, and were touring behind it, I was very anxious to see them play. Well, it appears that my wish came true.

What occurred during the next 2 hours (with a brief intermission) was absolutely amazing. To make things even better, I opted to sit in the Mezzanine at Paramount for the first time during a concert, rather than down on the floor. This ended up being a fantastic decision, affording me an excellent view from above, of Chick's hands in action.

Here is a photo showing my view of the stage, from above:

There's a reason that these two performers have 35 Grammy Awards between them. As far as I'm concerned, they represent the pinnacle in modern improvised music. I was able to jot down a setlist while they played. I very much appreciated that both artists did introductions to each piece, as the concert progressed.

Their performance was also very loose with both Chick and Bela adding some physical humor ala Victor Borge. In closing, all I can say is this was a unbelievable way to start off a new musical year. Hard to believe it is going to be followed by another great show, tomorrow.

Return to Forever IV at the Moody

Preshow

I bought the tickets to this show with the same crew that I attended the RTF Returns show with in 2008. This was the first of three, RTF reunion lineups, that have toured since then:

1. Chick Corea, Stanley Clark, Lenny White, Al DiMeola
   
2. Chick Corea, Stanley Clark, Lenny White, Bill Connors
   
3. Corea, Clark, & White
   

Unfortunately, the latter two tours did not come to Texas, but I have seen Chick perform twice since then, once with the Five Peace Band, and playing solo piano. I really enjoy Chick's playing, so I was very anxious to see this show.

We convened at Franks, before walking down to the Moody Theater for the show.

Zappa Plays Zappa

The opener was Zappa Plays Zappa. The lineup was very similar to the show I saw at Stubbs, two years ago, with the obvious addition of a new keyboard player.

The current lineup includes:

• Dweezil Zappa - Guitar
• Scheila Gonzalez - Saxophone, Flute, Keyboards & Vocals
• Pete Griffin - Bass
• Billy Hulting - Marimba, Mallets & Percussion
• Jamie Kime - Guitar
• Ben Thomas - Vocals & Trumpet
• Joe Travers - Drums & Vocals
• Chris Norton - Keyboards & Vocals

Set List

The set was similar to the Stubb's show two years ago. As usual, Dweezil had two special guests, with Chick Corea joining the band for one song, and then Eric Johnson, coming out later. I may have missed a song or two, but the set list was basically, as follows:

• Don't you ever wash that thing?
  
• Pajama people
  
• Fifty fifty
  
• Big swifty
  
• King Kong - with Chick Corea
  
• Don't you eat that yellow snow
  
• Saint Alphonzo's Pancake Breakfast
  
• Willie the Pimp - with Eric Johnson
  

Everything ZPZ played was well executed. I liked the new keyboard player, and even enjoyed the vocalist's singing more this time around. When Chick sat in with the band, the soloing was amazing, and he spent considerable time trading 8's with Dweezil. Even Eric Johnson was prepared, and his appearance with ZPZ was much better than what he delivered at Stubbs.

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Return to Forever IV

The lineup for RTF IV is new, with two new players who have never played with the band before. In addition to the core lineup of Corea, Clarke, and White, RTF IV also includes:

• Frank Gambale (of Elektric Band fame) - guitars
  
• Jean Luc Ponty - violin (need I say more?)
  

Set List

The Set List was a mix of classic RTF songs, along with an individual songs written by JLP, and Stanley Clarke. There's not much to say other than this was a fantastic show.

I will say that JLP to the mix was akin to RTF a la mode. The apple pie was already really good, the ice cream pushed it over the top!

• Medieval Overture
• Senor Mouse
• Sorceress / Shadow of Lo
• Renaissance
• After the Cosmic Rain
• Romantic Warrior

Encore

• Spain
• School Days

All in all, it was a stupendous night of prog and fusion goodness.

Chick Corea at the One World Theater

Last night, I ended my week of fantastic music with Chick Corea, playing solo piano at the One World Theater. My friend Dan and I went to the later of the two shows, and it was an extremely enjoyable experience.

As we entered the theater, a technician was busy tuning a magnificent, Yamaha, Grand Piano. Shortly after that Chick walked out on stage, and began casually conversing with the audience, saying that everything would be completely improvised, and we'd would all see where that led.

The whole show lasted about an hour, and was magnificent, consisting of 4 pieces:

Improvisation

The first piece lasted approximately 20 minutes, and as it progressed, I was strangely remembering several stride players, before settling in on thinking about Bud Powell, one of my favorite Be-Bop era players, and Polka-dots and Moonbeams.

Surprisingly, after finishing the number Chick asked the audience if anyone recognized the melody he had quoted, and it was Bud's Beautiful. I chuckled a little about that. I had caught the vibe, but had the wrong song.

Monk

The next selection was inspired by Thelonius Sphere Monk, another giant. Chick was fantastic drawing upon all of the techniques throughout Monk's repertoire. The number ended with some tasteful quoting of Blue Monk.

Senor Mouse

For the last two numbers, Chick took requests from the audience. Senor Mouse was mentioned by several people, and Chick mentioned that it would be fun because he had never played it alone. Once again, Chick killed on it.

Ginastera

For the last number, a young gentleman of about 13 years of age shouted out Crazy Train for his request, much to the embarrassment of his parents. Chick however, chuckled, took it in stride, and then produced an iPhone, saying listen to this crazy train. Chick then proceeded to play some John Coltrane.

He then asked the youngster what he liked about Crazy Train, and after receiving the answer, Chick said that perhaps he should also check out the late, Argentinian Composer, Alberto Ginastera. Apparently, Chick had only discovered him recently, as well.

His last improvisation was inspired by Ginastera, and was stunning.

Meet and Greet

After the show, Chick was available for a meet and greet, and I was able to talk with him for a couple minutes, and get a CD signed. I spoke to him a few minutes about Ginastera (a love of mine) and Bartok, he suggested I check out the French Composer, Henri Dutilleux (which I promptly did, once I got home).

Update

So, I noticed that Chick published his set lists for both shows. There were 4 noticeable breaks, so I took that as 4 pieces, although you can see there were obviously more songs listed.

Also, I was incorrect about the Bud Powell. It was a quote from But Beautiful, a standard.

Five Peace Band at Bass Concert Hall

Last night, I had the pleasure to see Five Peace Band, at the newly refurbished Bass Concert Hall. Having been to one of the last concerts there before the remodeling commenced, I was anxious to see what had changed. It seems that other than the acoustic treatments on the wall, and some painting, the changes were was not as dramatic as I had expected.

No matter, lets talk about the important stuff, the music. It seems that shortly after the Return to Forever tour concluded, Chick Corea started working with former bandmate from the Miles Davis Bitches Brew era, John McLaughlin. The original studio and touring line-up of Five Peace consisted of Chick and John, along with saxophonist Kenny Garrett, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta. Vinnie had to move on to the Jeff Beck tour (which does not appear to be traveling through Texas, damn it), and was replaced by the equally competent and spectacular, Brian Blades.

The band played for 3 hours, in 2 sets, with a 15-20 minute intermission. The acoustics, as always, were spectacular in this hall which used to host the Austin Symphony. My seat was in the 10th row from stage, with Chick almost directly in front of me.

The improvisational playing was spectacular. For me, the stars of the show were Chick, Brian Blades, and Christian McBride. Kenny looked like he might have been a little under the weather (but still played magnificently), and McLaughlin was his normal rock steady self. My friend commented that you really understand what a true MF'er Chick is on the keys, when you sit that close. I wholeheartedly agreed.

The crowd was older, and there were lots of gray ponytails again. None the less, most were attentive and seemed fully engaged in the show. I was surprised however, at the number of empty seats, given the standing room only crowds for RTF, last year.

A set list is available here. Although supposedly verboten, I managed to sneak a picture with the iPhone at the end of the show

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If you have the chance to see this show, do it! Next up this month, Stanley Clarke.

Return to Forever Returns

I attended the kick-off show of the Return to Forever Returns tour, at the Paramount Theater. I was quite surprised that it happened in fact, given some of DiMeola's and White's previous comments that the obstacle to a reunion was Chick's religion.

The evening started at the New Amsterdam bar with friends who are mostly musicians and heavy Prog/Fusion fans. We had also gotten together at a Memorial Day BBQ and watched DVDs of RTF (and other fusion bands), as a pregame. After speculating on what the show would entail, we trekked over to the Paramount which was almost sold out.

You could feel a general sense of excitement within the crowd, as they anticipated the show to come. As I took my seat, I noticed that the soundman was playing Tony Williams' album, Believe It (nice choice). I was probably right at the mean age of the crowd, so there were lots of gray ponytails in the audience ;)

I was sitting 6 rows back and 3 seats in from the aisle, on the left with DiMeola and Lenny White directly in front of me. The show began fairly promptly at about 8:10PM with an unusual touch, the band received a standing ovation before they had even started playing. I think this helped them immeasurably, and they appeared to all be in good spirits, as a result. At times, they even seemed quite emotional about it.

All in all, the show consisted of 2 sets lasting 65-75 mins, with an intermission and a 2 song encore. I think the whole thing came in about 2 hours and 40 minutes. Understandably, the first 3 or 4 songs were a little rough around the edges, before they settled into a good groove. I estimate that the house sound wasn't properly tweaked until later in the first set.

I should mention at this time, that I had seen every member of this band except Lenny White, as solo acts. The last time I had seen DiMeola, I didn't really enjoy it that much. I knew Lenny White was a bad-ass though, you don't replace Tony Williams in Miles Davis' band if you aren't. I am not familiar with the RTF catalog with this lineup, since all of my RTF albums have Bill Connors, not Al DiMeola. This didn't detract from my enjoyment of the show, in this context everyone shined.

The songs were all arranged, but there was a good deal of improvisation, even with DiMeola and Clarke using charts. There was enough nervousness on the part of the band, to make the solos interesting and feel honest. I am convinced that if I had in fact returned to see the Friday show, it would not feel like a replay of the night before.

For the second set, they went all acoustic with DiMeola on a nylon string, Clarke on upright bass, and Chick on a Yamaha grand. This was really special. DiMeola's and Chick's playing is almost frightening at times.

Surprisingly, a full account of the show was posted on the website before noon Friday. It includes a Set List and photos. I took a few additional photos with my iPhone.

Return to Forever

If possible, I was thinking I would like to catch this group after they had been touring for a few months, just to see what they sound like. Other than that, I enjoyed this night of music immensely. I have also reconsidered some of the things I said previously about DiMeola.