Hey Improvisers,
It can be lot of fun to we discover that some of our favorite musicians are fans of one another. A good example of this is the relationship between Chick Corea and Stevie Wonder.
Corea’s 1970’s jazz-fusion group, Return To Forever, inspired Wonder to compose this jazzy instrumental tune for his landmark album Songs In The Key of Life:
Stevie Wonder: Contusion
Stevie also enjoyed playing Chick’s famous piece “Spain” in concert from time to time:
Stevie Wonder: Spain
In his later years, Corea returned the favor by performing Wonder’s Latin-influenced song “Pastime Paradise” as a piano solo, with lots of improvisation included in his interpretations:
Chick Corea: Pastime Paradise
Stevie Wonder’s melodic lyricism has greatly influenced my own approach to improvising, and while listening back to my recent video of Corea’s early masterpiece “Litha,” I realized that there’s some “Stevie” in there as well as a lot of “Chick.”
Journey Through The Real Book #213: Litha
I hope you let these two great musicians inspire you too, as you watch these videos and their other music as well.
Enjoy the journey and “let the music flow!”
Ron
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