The Vigil
Thanks to his landmark work with Return to Forever, Chick Corea always creates a big stir when he puts together an electric jazz band. But he\'s also seemingly interested in playing every stripe of jazz under the sun, so the hyper-restless Corea doesn’t do electric jazz as often as he might. Recent examples over the last decade include the all-star Five Peace Band with John McLaughlin and the Return to Forever reunions with a few different lineups and concepts. Now past 70, Corea surrounds himself with a versatile electro-acoustic quintet (whose players are decades younger), as well as some special guests. Together they tackle some of Corea’s most complex material ever, with “Pledge for Peace” lasting 17 and a half minutes and “Portals to Forever” not much shorter. It takes time to get to where you\'re going with electric jazz space travel—and with this kind of jazz, the trip is more important than the destination. With only the short “Outside of Space” available individually for download, this album is about the long haul. It starts strong and builds momentum from there, measuring up to fans\' lofty expectations.
Chick Corea may have formed a new band, but still has ghosts from the Return to Forever reunion on his mind.
<p>More than just polishing silverware, Chick Corea's latest album cherishes the past but forges forwards at the same time, writes <strong>John Fordham</strong></p>