Surrounded by music since childhood, Armando Anthony Corea walked a path in which he shone like few others, accompanied by musicians who make up an encyclopedia of jazz.

Pianist, composer, arranger, producer, teacher. Acoustic and electric. Chick Corea was one of the most influential musicians in the vast universe that is jazz and surely one of the most important figures in global music of this time. In addition to being artistically prolific, he was commercially successful. For this reason, it would also be impossible to explain the music of this time without the example of Chick Corea.

Chick Corea Pianist, composer, arranger, producer, teacher. Acoustic and Electric

Armando Anthony “Chick” Corea was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1941, to a family of Calabrian origin. At the age of four, he began to play the piano, encouraged by his father, a jazz trumpeter who led a Dixieland band in Boston in the 1930s and 1940s.

Surrounded by music, young Armando was soon introduced to the heroes of bebop. The music of Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Horace Silver, and Lester Young would leave a notable mark on his education. At the age of eight, he began studying classical piano with Salvatore Sullo, an Italian-born concert pianist who, in addition to his love of Mozart, opened up the world of composition to him.

Always tied to a confusing timeline, the first released recording of the original configuration of Return to Forever was actually its second session.

An initial ECM studio date made in February 1972 was not released until after the band had changed in 1975.

The Polydor/Verve recording from October 1972 is actually this 1973 release, which features the same band with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Airto Moreira, Joe Farrell, and Flora Purim. There is no need to make distinctions, as both are five-star albums, showcasing many of the keyboardist’s enduring, instantly recognizable and highly melodic compositions.

Farrell’s joyous flute, Purim’s wordless vocals, Airto’s electrifying percussion and Clarke’s deft electric bass lines are wrapped up in a stew of Brazilian samba and Corea’s Fender Rhodes electric piano, and certainly set the tone and the highest bar for the music of the groups that will come after. “Captain Marvel,” the seed of the Farrell- and Purim-less band that expanded into a full concept album with Stan Getz, is here as a vaporous fusion samba with Corea dancing on the keys.

By now, the beautiful “500 Miles High” has become Purim’s signature song with Neville Potter lyrics and Corea’s stabbing chords, and unfortunately became a hippie anti-drug anthem.

Perhaps Corea’s definitive song of all time, and covered ad infinitum by professional and school bands, “Spain” retains the quirky melody, clapping interlude, up-and-down dynamics, exciting improvisational section and variation in time, tempo and colourations that always spark interest despite a length of close to ten minutes.

“You’re Everything” is a romantic classic that has surely been heard at many a wedding, with another Potter lyric sung to heaven by Purim, while the title track is Purim’s lyrics in a looser musical framework, with Clarke’s graphic merging with Corea and Farrell’s piercing flute work.

Chick Corea - John Patitucci - Dave Weckl — Chick Corea – John Patitucci – Dave Weckl

As much as the others have become icons, Farrell’s extraordinary sound on this date should never be trivialised or underestimated.

The final track, “Children’s Song,” was a springboard for several of Corea’s full-length album projects, and is heard here for the first time in trio format with a slow, Christmas motif.

The expanded version of this recording includes many alternate takes of four of these selections, but also includes “Matrix,” which was not on any RTF album, and there are four versions of “What Game Shall We Play Today?”, which was only available on the ECM release.