Chick Corea, brought his new band, The Vigil, to The Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant Wednesday night. Yours truly, attended the gig along with fellow musician buddies, and was very inspired. This gig had to be one of the most outstanding I have witnessed. The Vigil, is similar, however, very different, to Chick Corea's long-time band, Return To Forever. Corea is experimenting with new sounds, and showcasing young, up and coming musicians, in this band.
The band is Chick Corea on piano, Yamaha Motif XF8 electric piano (or ELP), and Moog Voyager, Charles Altura on guitar, Carlitos del Puerto on upright bass, sharing that duty with Luisito Contrero, also on bass, Tim Garland on woodwinds (including, but not limited to: soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, and, flute), and Marcus Gilmore on drums (grandson of legendary jazz drummer, Roy Haynes).
The opening number in the set, was "Fingerprints", a tribute of sorts, to the composition "Footprints", written by Wayne Shorter from 1966. Corea, and Shorter, played in Miles Davis' band in the late 1960s and early '70s, right around the time, what came to be known as jazz fusion, or jazz rock, was taking shape. The first piece was an unexpected, yet fitting nod to the past and even saw Chick join Marcus Gilmore and a guest percussionist out for the tour.
Sadly, yours truly cannot remember who the percussionist is. It was a neat experience, to see the percussion jam, and to see Chick Corea getting involved with it, on cowbell. In some shows he did with Miles Davis, (look these up on YouTube), you will notice Chick, and drummer Jack DeJohnette, trading places. Chick, would play drums, and Jack, would jam on Chick's Rhodes piano every so often. Maybe that idea, came to Corea, for The Vigil.
Then, compositions off of the actual Vigil album, came to the fore. "Royalty" was next. This is the fourth cut off the album, and it is dedicated to Roy Haynes. In "Royalty", Charles Altura, Tim Garland, and Carlitos del Puerto, all took solos. Garland's command of the saxophone is incredible to behold, whether he is playing tenor, or soprano, which he switched between during most of the evening.
For his part, Charles Altura, on guitar, left something to be desired. This is very likely, his first tour, backing a major star of jazz, like Chick Corea. So, it is understandable that he is excited about it. Maybe that excitement showed a shade too much in his solos, live. He played his Gibson ES335 electric guitar with much passion. But, that passion, needs to be tamed. In jazz, sure, you want to show your stuff, and say, "hey, here's who I am." But, you want to do it, in a subtle way, and not just take off and fly at top speed.
Altura's guitar playing, was like a Jackson Pollock painting, insofar as, the music is the canvas. But, Altura, instead of using fluid brushstrokes, would just splatter sounds all over the place. He will improve with time, as every musician does. But, his playing left a lot to be desired. Track three of the set, (which is track two, on the recording), "Planet Chia", is a neat one. It has a samba feel, but is a little quicker than that, even.
Chick Corea plays acoustic piano on this number. The reason it is called "Planet Chia", is twofold. First, chia seeds, are an obvious reference. ...And no, it's not the terracota figurines you see in the commercials, with the catchy jingle, to sprout the seeds. But, the second, and more significant reason, is, it is named for the late, great, jazz guitarist (who was mentioned in this blog on a few occasions, Paco de Lucia).
"Planet Chia" was a fun song. Charles Altura had a classical guitar solo, and there was some soloing for both Marcus Gilmore, and Carlitos del Puerto. But, yours truly was confused about who took which solos when, just being immersed in the music. Tim Garland took another fabulous sax solo, which was followed by band and audience hand claps. Believe me, everyone was syncopated on that part. Jazz concerts MUST involve audience participation. It is very much encouraged.
Next up, was the next track on the new record, "Portals To Forever". This one, is a very flowing number, and at The Dakota, it even went beyond how it sounds on the record. Altura, and Garland play in unison in the intro, before Chick Corea takes the lead on the Motif 8 with the Rhodes sound, and solos as only he can. "Portals To Forever", is in that classic Return To Forever style, but adds Garland's tenor saxophone. Return To Forever (except in one, short-lived incarnation of the band, with Joe Farrell and others in the late '70s), never really had horns.
The percussion on this song, got wild. At one point or another, the audience would hear bird whistles, samba whistles, hand claps, and goofy sounding duck calls, that added a bit of humor to the proceedings. Then, in reply to that cacophony, Chick Corea switched from the Rhodes, to the strings section of his Motif 8, and even played a little Moog Voyager. Everyone, (and I mean, everyone), on that stage, got a solo.
Chick led off with the strings and the Moog, followed by Del Puerto on bass, and Garland on bass clarinet, which was a unique sound to hear. Shades of Bennie Maupin when he played with Miles Davis, or, with Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters, back in the '70s, in the same era as Return To Forever. Charles Altura did his flying guitar crescendos. Toss the opportunity to solo around like a volleyball.
Altura gets another turn to shred, and Tim Garland, switches from bass clarinet, to soprano sax, to finish off this climbing and descending masterpiece of a tune. Again, only a maestro like Chick Corea could come up with this stuff, and hold listeners in such awe. There was so much in that one song, the audience was not sure if anything else was necessary. At least, yours truly wasn't. But, something else did come. ...And, no, it wasn't the insanely wild opening track from The Vigil record called "Galaxy 32, Star 4".
That track is a true monster, in and of itself. If you haven't, check it out on this blog, or, pick up a copy of the record, and dig it. Track one. It's mesmerizing. But, after playing a boatload of new material, how do you cap off a show? What is the cherry on the sundae? The piece de resistance? Only one of the coolest songs in your whole catalog as a composer. Chick Corea, and The Vigil, pulled out the famous Return To Forever number, "Spain", to cap off the evening.
This was the highlight for yours truly. That song starts, with the adagio from Joaquin Rodrigo's 1939 guitar concerto, "Concierto de Aranjuez", which was reworked by Miles Davis and Gil Evans, for Davis' 1960 masterpiece recording, "Sketches of Spain". Then, "Spain" itself, is brought in, which is probably Corea's most well-known composition, and was originally recorded for the 1971 Return To Forever album "Light As A Feather".
What a way to cap off a phenomenal concert, that left yours truly, and the rest of the audience, completely satisfied, hearing all the fantastic jazz they came for, by a new band, that is hopefully around for a long time to come.
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