StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Chick Corea plays solo

Chick Corea has been considered one of the top pianists in jazz for 50 years now, and he's played in St. Louis numerous times over the years. Corea was here most recently in 2008 with Return to Forever at the Fox Theatre and in 2013 in a duo concert with banjo player Bela Fleck at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Though his newest album release Trilogy is a triple-CD set recorded live with bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade, this time Corea will be playing solo when he returns here next Saturday, October 11 to play at the Sheldon Concert Hall. That's something he's done periodically throughout his career, but not previously here in St. Louis.

So today, we'll preview that performance with some clips of Corea alone at the piano, starting up top with a promotional video that he put out to promote his current solo tour.

After the jump, you can see and hear five different solo performances. The clips are arranged chronologically, starting with one recorded in 1987 in Brazil that shows Corea improvising in a free-form style.

That's followed by two complete solo concerts recorded in 1994, at Cirque Royal in Brussels, Belgium and Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile.

Next, we jump ahead to 2007 for a version of one of Corea's better-known compositions, "Armando's Rhumba," recorded for the PBS series Legends of Jazz.

The final video features Corea in a solo improvisation paying tribute to Bud Powell, one of his major influences, that was recorded in April 2011 at Massry Center for the Arts in Albany, NY.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...











Updated 10/7/14 to correct the location of Corea's last performance in St. Louis.