Musical apprenticeship

What did the young Chick Corea learn from performing with such jazz giants as Miles Davis, Cab Calloway, Sarah Vaughan and Mongo Santamaria? Corea tells all in our bonus online Q&A: sandiegouniontribune.com/ entertainment/music

“It’s similar to how we record in a studio, except that — doing it long distance — you can’t play in real time. But it’s more solid than trying to make music via phone or Zoom, because they don’t have that technology worked out where we can play in real time long distance. If they do, please let me know! Because everyone is looking for that.”

Prolifically making music, live and in the studio, has long been Corea’s forte. He has released six albums since 2017 alone, including in-concert recordings with his Akoustic Band and his all-star Trilogy group, with which he performed a sublime concert here last October at the Balboa Theatre.

Currently the New York Philharmonic’s Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-residence, Corea recently completed a trombone concerto for the philharmonic and is now at work on a percussion concerto for the Philadelphia Orchestra. He typically tours the world each year with several different bands and was scheduled — until the pandemic hit — to perform July 29 at the Hollywood Bowl with his Grammy-winning Spanish Heart Band and guest singer Rubén Blades.

In lieu of catching him on tour, listeners can hear Corea’s new live double-album, “Plays.” The 33track release features him performing and discussing the music of such kindred musical spirits as Mozart, Gershwin, Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, Brazilian icon Antonio Carlos Jobim, Spanish flamenco giant Paco de Lucia, and others.

In Corea’s remarkably gifted hands on “Plays,” following up the adagio section of Mozart’s Piano Sonata in F with Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch Over Me” makes perfect sense. Ditto his enchanting pairings of Evans’ “Waltz for Debby” and Jobim’s bossa-nova classic “Desafinado.” Equally rewarding is the deft manner in which he moves from longtime friend Stevie Wonder’s “Pastime Paradise” into a solo piano adaptation of “The Yellow Nimbus,” a piece Corea first recorded in 1982 with de Lucia — who died in 2014 — followed by a new version with his Spanish Heart Band last year.

“The composers whose music is on my new album have been an inspiration in my life for a long time,” said Corea, who recorded most of “Plays” at 2018 concerts in Berlin and Paris.

“I thought it would be interesting for the listeners to get a glimpse into my relationship as a performer with these venerable names, which is why I talked about it in my live shows. Are they just distant people? How do I relate to them? I’ve known Stevie for a lifetime. I met Bill Evans a few times as a young student of his; he was a mentor to me.

“I also met Monk a few times, as a young guy who was in awe of him. We got to hang around each other when I was in Mongo Santamaria’s band, and we played for three weeks at the Apollo Theater in New York with Monk’s quartet and Maynard Ferguson’s big band. I got to see Monk play every night, for three weeks, and that was my Monk University.

“As for the older guys like Mozart, Scriabin and Chopin, you used a good term — they are kindred spirits. So if we take away the barrier of time and living in different eras, I could easily envision talking shop with them and having a social or even a musical exchange, as pianists who are pursuing the same path playing music, composing and bringing it to the public.”

Corea’s debut solo album, the acclaimed “Tones for Joan’s Bones,” was released in 1968, the same year he joined Miles Davis’ internationally renowned quintet. Prior to then, he cut his teeth performing in the bands of such luminaries as Cab Calloway, Sarah Vaughan and Mongo Santamaria. He recalls each of them with infectious enthusiasm.

“The universities I’ve attended are just the best they could be — and those were my apprenticeships. That’s the way you learn a trade, an art form, and learn to live, really. You need good mentors and good teachers. You have to play with someone better than you and learn how to provide musical support and service to other band members. I did that for years.

“You can go to music schools and learn some basics. But there is an apprenticeship system, which is always what the final step is. I’ve had the best teachers, haven’t I? And I’ve been so lucky to have experienced all of that.”