Pianist Chick
Corea and Vibraphonist Gary Burton had originally first attempted to play
together in the 1960s, but had found that it didn’t really work. Playing in a
quartet, with the piano and the vibraphone both being chordal instruments, the
two had a habit of getting in the way of each other and not really being able
to play side by side.
A few years
later in 1972, both men happened to be performing at the Munich Festival as
solo acts, and as fate would have it ended up being the two artists at an after
hours jam. Without a rhythm section, and just having the other to play off,
somehow there was an instant on-stage rapport between the two musicians – a
rapport that immediately caught the attention of the then-present Manfred
Eicher. His ECM label, still only a few years old, had already gathered a solid
reputation for its strong releases and played host to a small number of Coreas
solo piano works, and Eicher heard in the two players a potential new take on
an intimate chamber jazz that would be a perfect fit for ECMs clear and
pristine sound capturing and production.
What would
eventually be released as ‘Crystal Silence’ a year later was in fact recorded
in just one day in November of 1972 in a studio in Oslo. Despite the strong and
passionate enthusiasm for the music they had all produced, Burton, Corea and
Eicher had very low commercial expectations for the album, expecting the
prospect of a piano-vibraphone duet album to entice just a relatively small
audience. The album in fact though went on to garner superb reviews and
eventually sell almost 500,000 copies.
Featuring
material largely written by either Corea or Burton’s musical partner, bassist
Steve Swallow, the sole exception is Michael Gibbs darkness-tinged ballad
‘Feelings And Things’. Coreas classic ‘Senor Mouse’ opens though and immediately
sets high expectations, with the two instruments combining to form melody,
harmony and rhythm, and then throwing the roles between the two. Despite the
structured and detailed music, both men move responsibilities throughout, with
at times electric spontaneity. Chamber jazz it may be, but here we see equal
parts gentle music with at other times playing that has huge energy.
‘I’m Your Pal’
is a great ballad piece played to perfection, with more than a hint of gospel,
and ‘Falling Grace’ is elegant and lively - elsewhere ‘Arise, Her Eyes’ is the
only version you’ll ever need of arguably Swallows finest composition. Corea
also brings two Return To Forever pieces to the party and they shine joyously,
but nothing is as strong here as the title track. Nine minutes of beauty and
nuance create an outstanding soundscape that highlights that although the two
shine individually plenty, it is their subtle and brilliant interactions that
both creates a kind of singular intent and sound that really raises the bar.
Obviously, the
magic and beauty here was a huge personal success for the two friends, and
luckily they happened to be entirely wrong about its commercial appeal. Six
years though would pass before Corea and Burton would reconvene in the studio
together, this time though without the presence of Eicher, and in Sheridan,
Oregon. Corea in the interim had become a leader in the jazz-fusion world with
the electric quartet version of Return To Forever, before ending the band and
creating more orchestrated sounding solo works on the Polydor label. ‘Duet’
however signposted a definite return to more acoustic interests, which would in
turn result in a line of further ECM albums focusing on his piano trio and solo
ideas.
The ‘Duet Suite’
opens the album that in fifteen-minutes reveals a solid number of twisting
melodies delivered in unison and the two virtuosos’ ability to play more than
just mere notes from a page. Coreas Spanish percussive way of playing the piano
too comes more to the fore.
This time
Burton brings just two Swallow tunes, ‘Radio’ with its elegant swing and a solo
piano section that is in this reviewers opinion the highlight of the album, and
‘Never’, a softer gentler tune that shows just how good a blend the dueting
partners here can achieve. Corea, bringing the lions share of the tunes
including the freshly written ‘Song For Gayle’, donates two more Return To
Forever pieces, that best show how the chemistry between them had improved
since their first meeting. It also fully demonstrates the duos ability to
improvise and create both individually and together - Burton would later say
playing with Corea was just like “having a conversation with your best friend”.
Almost a whole
year later, the two would perform in Zurich, recording the show as ‘Zurich,
October 28, 1979’. Opening with the same piece that opened ‘Crystal Silence’,
‘Senor Mouse’ has even more energy and virtuosity, helping quash any doubters’
thoughts about just how in the moment the two studio works were.
For too long only available as a single
disc, a good portion of the performance was cut out. Thankfully here we again
get the whole performance across two discs, which importantly allows us to hear
both men play solo pieces and also more crucially gives us the proper flow of
the concert. Proper and due consideration of track sequencing can often improve
an album, especially with a concert performance, and ECM have always been
incredibly aware and astute in terms of generating the right ‘narrative’, in large
part to label head Manfred Eicher and his personal involvement and enthusiasm
in everything his label produces. The earlier one disc version was good. The
re-insertion of Burton taking on ‘I’m Your Pal’ and ‘Hullo, Bolinas’, and
Coreas’ captivating fourteen minute version of his own ‘Love Castle’
(originally just five minutes long) though, returns it to undeniably great.
Interestingly,
as testament to the pairs growing collective skill and fell for the music, all
of the tunes from the studio works are different and arguably for the most part
better. The already sublime ‘Crystal Silence’ is somehow enhanced further,
benefitting from a more percussive Corea, who donates three new tunes; the
bright sounding ‘Tweak’ and ‘Mirror, Mirror’, and the bebop-esque ‘Bud Powell’,
which interestingly would later become a Corea favourite for his acoustic
groups. What really sets it so high though is its impeccable sound and capture
of the instruments on-stage - making ‘In Concert’ a great and vivid live
document of a duo that can really generate a strong sense of atmosphere.
This superb
4-disc box-set from the always high-calibre ECM collects these three duo albums
recorded for the label. 1983’s ‘Lyric Suite For Sextet’ also recorded by the
two isn’t included, it not being a duet performance like the other three and
therefore thematically being very different (in truth it is also nowhere near
as stellar a work as any of the three here). The pair of studio albums are as
good as they have always ever been, boasting tunes, atmosphere and crystal
clear sound in spades. For most though, it is the live album where the real
money is, feeding off the audience the live set is just incredible, and for a
long time only available in truncated form, here it is restored to full and
deserved double-disc glory. Corea transforming the previous electric group
piece ‘Love Castle’ from his earlier ‘My Spanish Heart’ into a lengthy expanded
what can only be described as tour-de-force alone is worth this new chunk of
gold, but this whole package is compellingly good.
Gary Burton and Chick Corea
continue today, individually and with respective groups, to play and record at
an incredible and productive rate. As a duo, and with each other and other
players, they play together every year, although recordings of the two duetting
are still small in number. ‘Crystal Silence – The ECM Recordings’ is a very
welcome release at a very appropriate time, helping to celebrate both Manfred
Eichers labels historic 40th birthday and also the musical pairing
also nearing the same anniversary. Beautiful and daring, Burton and Coreas
music is as fresh and moving today as it was on its original release.
*****
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