The late Chick Corea's finale with his famed Akoustic Band is a real joy

Sep. 29—LIVE

Chick Corea Akoustic Band with John Patitucci & Dave Weckl

I know I'm supposed to feel a little sad, for this is a posthumous release.

But I don't.

I feel as energized and alive as the great Chick Corea would have wanted me to feel.

I feel invigorated and hungry to seek out some of the moments of Corea's career that might have been glossed over.

This two-disc set is based off a performance the trio gave on Jan. 13, 2018, at SPC Music Hall in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Little did anyone know at the time that Corea would die barely three years later at his home in the Tampa Bay area not far from that music hall. He had a rare form of cancer that was only diagnosed shortly before his death on Feb. 9, 2021.

His passing was a shocker to the jazz world. Even at age 79, Corea was on top of his game and was putting out some memorable discs.

Now, there's this one as another reminder of what we've lost. But I don't say that in a sad or melancholy way.

His Akoustic Band was an offshoot of Corea's Elektric Band. He recruited bassist John Patitucci and drummer Dave Weckl way back in 1985 to join him and other musicians doing jazz fusion. The two were barely 25 and he was almost two decades older.

Corea went unplugged after his Elektric Band became an international success and, thus, his Akoustic Band was formed as a trio.

His Akoustic Band won a Grammy in 1990 and never actually broke up because, as Robin D.G. Kelley states in the liner notes, Corea was someone who constantly reinvented himself and "never considered any band as a permanent fixture."

"I hesitate to call it a 'reunion' since the three men never stopped working together," Kelley wrote.

Among the highlights are a great cover of Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood," the Latin-flavored "Rhumba Flamenco," and a reinterpretation of piano great Thelonious Monk's song, "Monk's Mood." The second disc ends with a song from Corea called "You're Everything," in which his wife, Gayle Moran Corea, performs the only vocals.

The performances are jazzy, fun, sentimental, introspective, and satisfying.

Released Sept. 24, Live won't go down as Corea's most epic disc. But it's yet another amazing moment from a career which spanned nearly 60 years.