Pianist, composer and band leader Armando Anthony ‘Chick’ Corea has made so many records in just as many styles during his 40-year career, it’s almost impossible to capture his story in bird’s eye view. In the beginning of the sixties Corea made his debut in the latin bands of Mongo Santemaria and Willie Bobo and in 1964 he made the transfer to jazz by joining the group of trumpeter Blue Mitchell. In 1966 his first record as a leader was released: Tones for Joans’s Bones, a successful drill inspired by hardbop. Two years later he joined Miles Davis’ group to research the possibilities of a fusion between jazz and rock. That event put his name on the jazz map for ever. In 1970 he specialized in playing free jazz in his group Circle. Latin, bop, fusion and free remain the styles that Corea plaid alternately or simultaneously in the following thirty years. For the project Touchstone Corea re-investigates the compositions he wrote for his classic 1982 album Touchstone, which he then played with Paco de Lucía. He attempts this musical exploration with his new quintet that consists of band members of the Spanish flamenco virtuoso.
