Chick Corea, jazz great with 23 Grammy Awards, dies at 79

Photo: Getty Images / Jakubaszek

Chick Corea, a towering jazz pianist with a staggering 23 Grammy Awards who pushed the boundaries of the genre and worked alongside Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock, has died. He was 79. Corea died Tuesday February 9, 2021 of a rare form of cancer. A prolific artist with dozens of albums, Corea in 1968 replaced Herbie Hancock in Miles Davis’ group, playing on the landmark albums “In a Silent Way” and “Bitches Brew.” He formed his own avant-garde group, Circle, and then founded Return to Forever. He worked on many other projects, including duos with Hancock and vibraphonist Gary Burton. He recorded and performed classical music, standards, solo originals, Latin jazz and tributes to great jazz pianists. Corea was named a National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master in 2006. He was a member of the Church of Scientology and lived in Clearwater, Florida. He regularly won the title of Jazz Artist of the Year from Downbeat Magazine. In addition to his Grammy wins, Corea also had four Latin Grammy wins. The Latin Recording Academy called him “a virtuosic pianist and one of the most prominent Latin jazz musicians of all times.” The Blue Note jazz club in New York City simply called him “irreplaceable.” Drummer Sheila E. took to Twitter to mourn. “This man changed my life thru his music and we were able to play together many times. I was very fortunate to call him my family,” she wrote “Chick, you are missed dearly, your music and brilliant light will live on forever.” Last year, Corea released the double album “Plays,” which captured him solo at various concerts armed simply with his piano.The double album was a peek into Corea’s musical heart, containing songs he wrote about the innocence of children decades ago as well as tunes by Mozart, Thelonious Monk and Stevie Wonder, among others. Corea is the artist with the most jazz Grammys in the show’s 63-year history, and he has a chance to posthumously win at the March 14 show, where he’s nominated for best improvised jazz solo for “All Blues” and best jazz instrumental album for “Trilogy 2.”Corea was born in Massachusetts and began piano lessons at 4. But he bristled at formal education and dropped out of both Columbia University and the Juilliard School. He began his career as a sideman. Late last year, Corea had two commissions: A trombone concerto for the New York Philharmonic and a percussion concerto for the Philadelphia Orchestra. He’s also started teaching online, creating the Chick Corea Academy to offer his views on music and share the opinions of others, take questions and chat with guests. He hopes his students will explore their freedom of expression and think for themselves. Corea is survived by his wife, Gayle Moran, and a son Thaddeus.  AP