Jazz legend Sonny Rollins once said that “each album is an invitation to a concert.” If that is true, then Royce Hall was packed with RSVPs from the pair of Trilogy albums released by famed pianist Chick Corea and his equally prominent team of bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade, both leaders of their own bands. In fact, so festive was the event that each person in attendance left with a “party favor,” a link to download one of the songs from this tour. To make things even more of a party, Corea bookended the 110 minute concert by having the upscale audience sing along to harmonize the opening “tune up” and closing with a call and response to the encore of Thelonious Monk’s “Blue Monk.” Was this a party or what?!?
Between these two moments, Corea gave a tribute to pianists from, oh about 250 years ago to the present time. The trio’s read of “Alice In Wonderland” had Corea giving a rich opening solo that hearkened to the lyricism of Bill Evans mixing stride and inquisitiveness while Blade’s serenely swinging sticks and McBride’s palpable bass line wove in and out like threads in a Raphael tapestry. In a likewise manner, Duke Ellington’s “In A Sentimental Mood” had Corea once again introduce things with a chordal approach akin to the composer, but adding a hint of modern exploration as Blade brushed his cymbals like an umpire dusting off home plate and McBride providing thick droplets of tar like a bopping road repairman.
A pair of compositions by Thelonious Monk had the three play musical caroms on the fun and quirky “Crepuscule With Nellie” with Blade and McBride cutting acute angles, and then digging deeper in “Work” as Corea hunched over his piano like his was titrating the melody before Blade led a series of duets with each teammate, changing partners left and right before going off and soloing like Gene Kelley, mixing up paces and speeds like Mariano Rivera.
An improvised message to Baroque period pianist Domenico Scarlatti had Corea making his piano create harpsichord tones before delving into a sonata, an elegant pas de deux with McBride that eventually had Blade join in for a wonderfully Andalusian melody of Corea’s own “A Spanish Song.” Between this elegant theme, Corea’s opening classic “500 Miles” and his driving and propulsive closer “Fingerprints,” Corea gave good evidence that years from now, music fans will be delving into his own rich songbook.
By the way, as one who has both of the multi-disc sets of this trio, Rollins was correct in that nothing beats seeing artists in action, with live in-the-moment interplay always capturing the spirit of jazz in a way that recordings can only promise. Catch these gents next time around!
Upcoming for UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance include Joshua Redman Quartet w/ The Bad Plus 11/10, Sergio Mendes & Bebel Gilberto 11/16, Bill Frisell & Julian Lage Duo 1/05, Dejohnette/Coltrane/Garrison 12/07 and Gregory Porter 02/07