Customer Reviews

Now He Sings Now He Sobs

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This album was first recommended to me in 1982 by Dan Hearle, perhaps the best jazz piano teacher of all time and author of many books on improvisation and chord voicings and other aspects of jazz piano and jazz playing. I was taking Dan's jazz piano master class at North Texas State University (now called University of North Texas), and he played it for us and urged us to grab up any copies of this important, then out-of-print album that we could find.

Thankfully, the album came out on cd, and now has been freshly remastered. I have the original cd, so I can't comment on the sound quality of the remaster. The sound quality of the original is very good, though.

More importantly, the playing is amazing. At that young age, Chick was already a mature and important player and composer. Most of the tracks on "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs" are accessible and enjoyable to any jazz fan, not just students of jazz piano. (In contrast, another Corea jazz trio album from the same era "The Song of Singing" contains more free jazz and is less accessible.)

"Now He Sings" features great playing by Roy Haynes and Miroslav Vitous. This excellent trio had a reunion in the 1980s, to record (at least) two more albums: "Trio Music" and "Trio Music: Live in Europe". Their 1980s sound is more mature, their individual styles are more fully realized, but the 1960s recording "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs" is still a gem that belongs in the collection of jazz pianists and jazz fans alike.

Highly recommended.

Roy Haynes, Miroslav Vitous, Chick Corea team here on this amazing cd. One of the best piano trio albums of all times. It is from 68, but it sounds much fresher than this. I guess because most of the tunes are Corea originals, and that the band has a distinctive sound. Corea is inspired and tirelessly inventive. Roy Haynes drives the beat, echoing the piano's rythmic inventions, as if he was an extension of Corea. Well, I cannot single out Roy, as it is the whole band that is symbiotic. This is a classic.

I bought this album after listening to an interview with Chick Corea on NPR over the summer last year. In the interview he was asked the quintessential question: "What is your favorite album that you've put out over the years?". His answer was this album.

The album stands up to that testament. The emotion, energy, and talent of Chick and his band is incredible. Every time I listen to this album I hear something new. I'd give it 6 stars if I could.

Ron McMaster did a wonderful remaster job on this 1968 album for Blue Note Records, treating it to a 24-bit resolution transfer and providing a sound quality that is unrivaled by previous releases. If you enjoy great improvised jazz piano in a trio format, you'll be sure to welcome this one as a new addition to your jazz library. With Corea on this occasion are two excellent lifelong sidemen of his, Miroslav Vitous on bass and Roy Haynes on drums.

While Corea was not unknown to the world of jazz in 1968, this album did bring him more notoriety and showcased him as a somewhat radical pianist. This album likely played no small role in Miles Davis having brought Corea onboard later that same year to join his quintet. Many of the pieces on this album may seem too abstract for some, perhaps appearing too loose or unstructured. If you do come to such a conclusion, you will at least come to appreciate "Matrix" (now a standard) for its cohesiveness.

Personally, I enjoy immensely the free interaction between each artist on this album. The original release of "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs" had five tracks, but this wonderful reissue has 8 bonus tracks making this purchase an obvious win. Outstanding piano improvisation from one of the genre's finest pianists, this album is a must own as much for it's beauty as for its radicalism.

Classic Chick Corea. I bought this CD in 1993 after having been exposed to Chick's Akoustic and Elektric bands in 1991. At this point I was starting to get into jazz and decided that Now He Sings, Now He Sobs would be my first jump into Chick's back catalog.

I couldn't have picked a better CD to start with. It was his first major release as a leader and was still early enough in his career for me to hear him developing his style. Now, he certainly had that 'Chick' sound in his playing but I could tell he was pushing himself in different directions. I really liked his hard bop playing in some of his solos. I think this album and his earlier work with Blue Mitchell showcase him having a mastery of the jazz idiom of the time and I like how this set shows him still fluent in that style of playing while branching out and generally just playing more like 'Chick' than just playing in the vein of other jazz pianists of the time.

The backing on this set is also superb. One of my favorite parts is during "Matrix" when Miroslav Vitous takes a bass solo. It is a solo in the true sense of the word because Chick and drummer Roy Haynes totally lay off while Miroslav gets into some awesome bass improv. Elsewhere, Miroslav and Roy present a tight background for Chick to take solo flight over and over again from bop numbers to ballads like "My One And Only Love."

Also featured here are some pieces that, at the time, probably qualified for the 'avant garde' or even 'free jazz' labels. While they are interesting in their own right, they don't necessarily grab me for any reason other than that they show hints of where Chick would end up during and after his fusion days.

All in all, it's a great buy and a must have for anyone who is a fan of Chick in all his stylistic incarnations. The musicianship from all players is top notch, Chick is in perfect form and the setlist is varied and keeps things interesting.

'Now He Sings Now He Sobs' is easily the greatest piano trio album of all time after Bill Evans' Vanguard Vanguard recordings... but don't take it from me, I'm someone who thinks the Beatles are easily the greatest rock band ever.

If you enjoy music, you need this album. When listening to this disc, one gets the sense that Chick is putting his entire self into the piano. The dark atonal passages delivered in perfect rhythm will send chills down your spine. The first two tracks, Steps-What Was and Matrix, are worth the price alone. Corea plays with the fury and passion of the 1960s in the language of European modernists like Bartok and Stravinsky. The interesting part is that this album also swings. Hard. Roy Haynes is absolutely fabulous as always, and has the perfect sound to accompany Chick. Miroslav Vitous provides an extremely powerful rhythmic and harmonic presence, as well as virtuosic, freaklike proficiency in his solos. This is an overlooked masterpiece, and one of the best trio performances of all time.

From ALEC WILDER: THE COMPLEAT COMPOSER by Marian McPartland: "Interestingly, one of the OCTETS (which were written almost 40 years ago) is called MAMA NEVER DUG THAT SCENE, and in its opening line is very like a piece by Chick Corea--MATRIX. Alec didn't believe me until I played MATRIX for him. Then he was amazed and I think secretly delighted that he had the idea first. Anybody who thinks his music is old-fashioned should compare these 2 pieces."

Here's another thing you should compare: MATRIX and Lenny Bernstein's DU-BING DU-BANG DU-BONG tune from Lenny's MASS. Lenny's DU-BING is an obvious take-off of Mahler's BIMM-BAMM tune. Stylistically, Lenny was imitating The Swingle Sisters. But content-wise, Lenny was imitating MATRIX's head. There's that same ascension followed by a descension. Chick's MATRIX came out in 1968 and Lenny's MASS came out in 1970.