Chick Corea: Accomplishing the goal of art

Chick Corea, one of the legendary figures of jazz, died in February this year. He was a pianist, a 23-times Grammy award winner and he played with all the jazz greats. He was also recognised the world over as a composer, with hits like “Spain” and work ranging from bebop to fusion and symphonic works for classical players. As a tribute, In The Studio is repeating a programme made about Chick which was first broadcast in November 2020.

The programme begins in January 2020 when reporter Renata Sago started recording with Chick as he composed a new Trio Concerto for bass, drums and himself to premiere at the MUPA concert hall in Hungary’s capital Budapest in March. The pandemic meant that the premiere was later cancelled – but Covid-19 hadn’t slowed Chick down. He'd been taking on new projects and was looking forward to playing in front of a live audience again for the first time for months.

Renata caught up with him again to find out what new things he'd been writing, how he’d found a new audience in lockdown and how all kinds of musical styles helped him accomplish the goal of art.

Reporter: Renata Sago
Producer: Emma Kingsley for BBC World Service
Photograph of Chick Corea