JazzTimes is honored to present the premiere of a new track by Chick Corea: a live solo take on Antônio Carlos Jobim’s “Desafinado.” This track will be included on the pianist’s upcoming live album Plays, a two-CD/three-LP collection of solo performances recorded in concert halls across Europe and the U.S. and scheduled for release August 28 on the Concord Jazz label.
On Plays, Corea engages not just with Jobim but with several of his favorite composers, including Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, George Gershwin, Domenico Scarlatti, Frédéric Chopin, Alexander Scriabin, and Stevie Wonder.
“I’m part of a lineage,” he explains. “The thing that I do is similar to what Monk did, to what Bill Evans and Duke Ellington did and, moving back into another era of music, what Bach and Mozart and Beethoven did. These were all pianists who were composers at heart, who gathered their own musicians together to play. I feel so proud to be a part of that tradition.”
About this track in particular, Corea comments: “‘Desafinado,’ which means ‘slightly out of tune’ in Portuguese, is one of my favorite songs by the great Brazilian composer Antônio Carlos Jobim, who, along with João Gilberto and others, invented bossa nova music, which really influenced jazz in the 1960s. In fact, when I was with Stan Getz, I had the distinct pleasure of working with João Gilberto, who sang Jobim’s melodies so beautifully. I’ve been playing ‘Desafinado’ solo piano for a while now.”
For more information about Chick Corea, visit his website.
