Corea’s Final Synthesis of Classical and Jazz

Cover of the album being discussed (courtesy of Crossover Media)

Last month ECM released a digital single of one of Chick Corea’s last ventures into territory shared by the classical and jazz genres. The title of the album is The Visitors, and it is only about twelve minutes in duration. The synthesis of the two genres is reflected in the two performers, classical pianist Kirill Gerstein and Gary Burton on vibraphone. The album was released a little less than a month ago on what would have been Corea’s 84th birthday.

Readers familiar with Gerstein’s career may recall that this was not his first encounter with Burton. The latter was one of the performers contributing to the Gershwin album that Gerstein released back in 2018. When I wrote about that album, I singled out the “rare delight” of my encounter with Oscar Levant’s “Blame It On My Youth.” “The Visitors” is far less frivolous, exploring a diversity of thematic gestures empowered by a driving rhythm that only lets up on the brief coda.

Corea died on February 9, 2021, and my obituary on this site was an account of Chick Corea Akoustic Band LIVE. Now I am in a position to reflect on his skill at balancing his more familiar jazz work with the classical side of his interests. “The Visitors” may be a relatively brief composition, but that brevity still unveils the breadth of Corea’s inventiveness.