Solo Piano Improvisations / Children's Songs

Chick Corea (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 25, 2010)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Ecm Records
• ASIN: B00369K2NM
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,064 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #26 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Improvisation

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solo Piano Classics, January 13, 2011

By 

Matthew Miller "jazzplayer" (New York, New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Solo Piano Improvisations / Children's Songs (Audio CD)

As the title undoubtedly suggests, this is a collection of three of Chick Corea's classic solo piano albums: "Piano Improvisations" vol.s 1 and 2 and "Children's Songs". Even though I already had a copy of 'Children's Songs' on cd, I seized the opportunity to buy this collection to complete my collection of the two piano improvisations albums, which I had trouble finding on their own. These albums are classic and taken together represent a new approach to solo piano in the jazz idiom in the early 70's. Not only are these albums therefore historically important, they are an absolute joy!

The two improvisations albums are, as the name suggests, solo piano improvisations, given names after the fact (well, there is one Thelonious Monk and one Wayne Shorter composition thrown in for good measure). Some of the melodies from them would later go on to have life as fully fleshed compositions in other settings, but here there is only Chick and his spur of the moment compositions. What always shocks me about Chick's improvisations on these albums is how well fleshed out the melodies are. We are treated to what sound like fully conceived melodies, beautiful melodies; they are emotionally full, yet easily accessible. Too often I find solo pianists to delight too much in abstraction. Recent Keith Jarrett solo piano albums, for instance, sometimes veer off into dense abstract territory. Jarrett is a technical genius, for sure, but there is something to be said about the elegance of Corea's melodic sense in these albums, which remain for me the pinnacle of solo improvised piano. The last of the solo albums, released a decade after 'Piano Improvisations' is the album of 'Children's songs", 20 short vignettes and one addendum which features Chick with violin and cello accompaniment. While perhaps not as exciting an album as the improvisations, there is no lacking for simple beauty here. The highlight, in my mind, is the addendum, which sounds as much like modern classical music as jazz, but is nonetheless an interesting exploration of a non-standard trio format for the jazz idiom.

It is always a pleasure to listen to these albums. The package here is more than just the albums, though. In the box there is also a booklet with a few pictures and short essays, including one by Chick Corea explaining the process of recording these albums. I cannot recommend this highly enough. While it may not be necessary to buy a second copy if you already have these albums, they are a worthy addition to any jazz library.