Product Reviews
The two-disc Corea: The Continents Concerto for Jazz Quintet and Chamber Orchestra features pianist Chick Corea performing with his combo and orchestra. The first disc features Corea's six-part composition conceptualized around Africa, the Americas, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, and Europe. While Corea's small group features such players as trombonist Steve Davis, saxophonist Tim Garland, bassist Hans Glawischnig, and drummer Marcus Gilmore, Corea is also backed by a handpicked orchestra conducted by Steve Mercurio and including members of the Harlem String Quartet and Imani Winds. This is truly a forward-thinking ensemble that can deftly fuse intricately arranged orchestral passages with more improvisatory jazz sections. The second disc features an extended solo piano series as well as several standards featuring Corea and his small group. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi
Product Notes
2012 two CD release from the veteran Jazz keyboardist. Making music for a combination of orchestral musicians and Jazz musicians has endless possibilities. Appreciation for the abilities each has for the other makes for an atmosphere charged with high interest, creative communication and new ideas. This was the setting for the composing and recording of The Continents for Corea, a dream come true. The process of making the recording was magical. The morale of the musicians plus the recording team was so high that they finished recording the six movements of the concerto a day and a half under schedule. After saying goodbyes to the orchestra musicians, the Quintet had an impromptu jam just for fun. Of course, the recorder was on. Chick then had the next evening to record some piano solo bits that he thought would fit the cadenza sections of the concerto. Once the solo performances had been recorded, The Continents was complete.