Musical heroes, continued gifts
Chick Corea with John McLaughlin at The Blue Note, NYC 2016-12-09
Whenever I hear the term, comeback tour, I inwardly cringe a little because the years aren't always kind to musicians, especially so with singers. But I've been pleasantly surprised by a few.
Chick Corea just finished a residency in November 2016 at The Blue Note, celebrating his 75th birthday. Return to Forever's "Romantic Warrior" was one of my cherished albums from post-high school days. The first time I ever heard the album was at a party in Lake Mohawk, NJ, in 1975 when I was drifting, uncertain about where my future would lead. John McLaughlin with The Mahavishnu Orchestra played an important role in my musical development ever since hearing their "Birds of Fire" album in rotation on WNEW-FM when I was in high school. "The Inner Mounting Flame" didn't hit my ears until much later. McLaughlin's remained a mainstay of my listening habits ever since. Not so much Corea, who I didn't really appreciate until I saw him play live many years later.
Flash forward to Chick's residency. I saw three of the many shows-- one with Vibraphonist Gary Burton and the Harlem String Quartet, a duo show with John McLaughlin, and Return to Forever meets Mahavishnu Orchestra. Each had special moments, with the third being my favorite. My husband Peter Keepnews and I went to the December 9th, 2016 show along with two guitarist friends, Ian Smit and Peter Biedermann. That night Corea and McLaughlin were joined by Drummer Lenny White and Bassist Victor Wooten, trading pieces from the two bands' back catalog and totally nailed it! McLaughlin is just about two months shy of 75 himself, and while he didn't play the extended, blistering solos one of my colleagues was hoping for, John's unison/intertwined guitar lines with his musical mates were still a thing of beauty. Corea's keyboard-work was equally astonishing. Our seats at the ever-cramped Blue Note were just off Chick's right side, where I had a perfect view of his flying fingers. It was mesmerizing to see such a master up close. So, yes, it was totally a gifted night, and I found myself tearing up a little at the performances.
Someone I hadn't thought about in a really long time was Procol Harum's Gary Brooker. In 1974 I very excitedly recorded on my Radio Shack mono cassette a live concert WNEW-FM aired with Procol Harum & The Edmunton Symphony at around the time of the album release with that lineup. I wanted to share it with friends at my high school radio station, WJSV. My brother's friend, David Skolnik, asked to see my tape and promptly buzzed it with a bulk tape eraser, destroying my recording. But not long after that I got to see Procol Harum live at Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum, with Leo Kottke (another revelation, as I'd never experienced his jaw-dropping skills as a fingerstyle guitarist). The performances that night were everything I'd hoped for and I left the show all aglow.
Jumping forward to December of 2016 and I got to meet Procol Harum's Gary Brooker in person when he visited Soundcheck tor an interview. He was set to perform on Paul Winter's Solstice concert, staged every year at the magnificent Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan. Brooker had a few spotlight moments singing a few Procol Harum hits and was in perfect voice, singing in the same key originally written. Again, moments to move me to tears.
Now as you can probably tell, I'm not the quickest at finishing thoughts and blogs. It's the summer of 2019 and many other performances have happened in between. Chick Corea is still performing. John McLaughlin retired in Jannuary 2017 and Gary Burton did not long after that. But earlier this year I got to see the current lineup of Procol Harum with Gary Brooker at City Winery and they still knocked me out. And I saw a wonderful re-creation of Gary Bartz's "Another Earth" at Le Poisson Rouge in January 2019 which he will present at the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival. Bartz is still going strong at age 78, although Pharoah Sanders, who joined him on the original re-creation, will not be joining him due to health issues.
All this is to say, go see your heroes while you still can. At the very least your nostalgic instincts will fill in the less-stellar moments. But music is still a great gift and you might be pleasantly surprised at how much your favorites can still give you.
