Forever Yours: The Farewell Concert (CD)

Forever Yours: The Farewell Performance captures highlights from two transcendent solo-piano concerts given just four months before the jazz icon Chick Corea’s passing. Made at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, FL in October 2020, they would be the last public concerts Corea ever gave. Not long after these performances, his health suddenly declined, and in February 2021 the world lost one of its greatest musicians. These recordings stand as both a deeply affecting goodbye and a definitive document of the Chick Corea solo piano experience. The listener is treated to Corea’s signature cascading virtuosity, technical command, and harmonic knowledge. Featuring original music (“Armando’s Rhumba,” a mini-recital of Children’s Songs) alongside homages to some of the composers he cherished, like Monk, Powell, and Ellington. The record reflects the generosity and empathy at the core of his music. Throughout the program, Corea’s uncut spoken interludes find him introducing tunes and explaining concepts in his affable, familial way, as if chatting with old friends. Mixed and mastered by long time collaborator Birnie Kirsch and presented as a 2 disc LP set in a gatefold sleeve and includes the bonus track “Pannonica”. With liner notes featuring heartfelt messages from well known admirers like Alicia Keys, Herbie Hancock, Hans Zimmer, Bobby McFerrin, Stanley Clarke, Lang Lang, and more. An essential release, it is a fine and fitting end to an astounding career.