Spain Chick Corea
As a result of my growing interest of Latin and Jazz music, I decided for my blog post to be on the song Spain by Chick Corea. Spain is an instrumental jazz fusion composition by jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea. It is likely Corea’s most recognized piece, and some would consider it a modern jazz standard. Spain was composed in 1971 and appeared in its original and most well known rendition on the album Light As A Feather. It is played in common time(4/4) and is originally played at a very fast pace. This February, I witnessed Lehman College’s Latin Jazz Band perform a cover to Spain. The song is introduced with a lengthy piano solo with a cello in the background complimenting the piano. After the intro, the song switches to a fast, Latin jazz samba rhythm, in which the main theme and an improvisation part are repeated. The percussion and woodwind instruments are then introduced. The flutes are accompanying the piano’s melody, while the business keeps a fast and steady pace. At the break of the song, the listener is required to clap along to the beat which is indeed a part of the original recording and sheet music. The claps are done on the 1 and the 3 and then falls back into a repeat of the fast paced Latin jazz samba rhythm. The chord progression used during the improvisation part is based on harmonic progressions of GMAJ7, F#7, Em7, A7, DMAJ7, C#7, F#7, Bm, B7. Chick Corea’s instrumental of “Spain” is influenced from traditional Spanish music. In the opening arrangement of the song, There is a Flamenco style of playing on the piano, implying a dramatic setting to set the mood before heading into an elegant melodic flare. Like the original recording, each musician takes turns in the spotlight to display their musicianship skills. The piano, bass guitar, flutes, brass, and percussion all took turns soloing. The most impressive solo to me in the performance and in original recording is the bass solo. The bass solo was almost on par from the original recording with its arpeggio sweeps and even plucked some chords with a slap bass technique. The flute takes second place with its versatility among the other instruments. The flute player’s solo ornaments the music with such gracefulness in the melodic theme of the piece and even ventured out on his own. The percussion solos were also impressive. The drums especially to solo and be able to keep a steady jazz samba rhythm at such a fast pace. The spontaneous drum fills were perfectly timed and you’d have to be a pretty experienced drummer to be able to do it at such a fast pace. However, all the instruments played an important part to this piece. Each instrument originates its own sound so perfect when played together. They’re intimate unity is what makes Chick Corea’s “Spain” such a well respected masterpiece of musical sorcery. Below is a live performance of a performance of “Spain” in Barcelona, Spain.
The story behind a modern jazz standard
The son of a trumpeter in a Dixieland band, the virtuosic keyboardist Chick Corea is revered as one of the principal alchemists in the fusion of jazz with rock, funk, and Latin music. After recording his seminal 1968 album, Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, he replaced Herbie Hancock as the piano chair in Miles Davis's band—the band that recorded such classic albums as Bitches Brew. Throughout his eclectic career, Corea has collaborated with vibraphonist Gary Burton and banjoist Bela Fleck, pioneered the use of the Fender Rhodes electric piano, and won 16 Grammys. In 1972 he founded the jazz fusion group Return to Forever, which he's steered through several lives—including Return to Forever IV, which recently concluded its 2011 World Tour. Here, Corea shares the original sheet music for 'Spain,' a composition for the group's 1972 sophomore album, Light as a Feather.
- Spain - Chick Corea: Stella by Starlight - Washington & Young: Stolen Moments - Oliver Nelson ( Needs GM - Brush Drum Kit ) Recommended Reading: What's Midi?: Making Musical Instruments Work Together By Jon F. A great beginner's guide to MIDI. Paperback - 64 pages (February 1991) List Price $5.95 Our Price $4.76 You Save $1.19 (20%).
- Listen to C.COREA.Spain.mid, a free MIDI file on BitMidi. Play, download, or share the MIDI song C.COREA.Spain.mid from your web browser.
- Spain - Chick Corea piano solo. 1 part. 5 pages. 01:47. Nov 30, 2020. 955 views. 26 favorites.
- Spain is an instrumental jazz fusion composition by jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea. It is likely Corea’s most recognized piece, and some would consider it a modern jazz standard. Spain was composed in 1971 and appeared in its original and most well known rendition on the album Light As A Feather.
Spain by Chick Corea is in the key of B Minor. It should be played at a tempo of 90 BPM. This track was released in 1973.
THE FIRST RECORDING took about three hours at a New York studio. This was in 1972, within the first year or two of Return to Forever's inception. We were on the road continually, and we were adding music to our repertoire and preparing our second record. Our rhythm was pretty developed by then-Stanley [Clarke] on bass, Airto [Moreira] playing the trap drums, bringing his Brazilian touch to everything, plus my writing.
At the time I was in love with Miles's 'Sketches of Spain,' with Gil Evans. I still am. On that record Gil has this fantastic arrangement-it's the second movement of Joaquin Rodrigo's 'Concierto de Aranjuez.' I fooled around with that theme, extended it and composed some melodies, which turned out to be the main themes of 'Spain.' I always play Rodrigo's second movement as a keyboard intro.
I work out alternatives in my head, toss them around, play them on the piano until I find a piece that's the best. And I don't set anything down onto paper until I've got a pretty long flow, a complete melodic statement.
By 1976 or so, I started to tire of the song. I started playing really perverted versions of it-I'd refer to it just for a second, then I'd go off on an improvisation. Once the acoustic band was in action, sometime around '85, I decided to try my hand at a rearrangement of the piece. Then there was the orchestral arrangement. Even with my current band, Return to Forever IV, we're still playing 'Spain.' We've gone back to the original arrangement.
Click the images below to enlarge
Maybe another tune will come to the forefront. Probably not, at this part of my life. I don't know. I don't think any artist really knows why a song gets popular. A lot of artists say, we'll, it was a sing-able melody, the rhythm was infectious. You could surmise a lot.
Spain Chick Corea Thadd
The constant challenge is not so much the creative process, but the challenge of presenting an idea to the public. It's a constant challenge to get your arrangement and musical expression across to a new audience, especially when you're playing live every night, like we are.
Spain Chick Corea Jack Gardiner
Miles set this example of creative fearlessness. He kept changing the way he played. He kept changing the poem of his music. Now, when I play soul piano, for instance, and I play a rendition of 'Spain,' I do it deconstructively. That's the most fun, but I can only do that when I'm on my own.
Spain Chick Corea Pdf
-Chick Corea, as told to Alex Hoyt