La notizia ci ha colpito come un pugno nello stomaco. Ieri sera ne abbiamo dato conto subito sul nostro canale fb quando ancora rimbalzavano conferme e smentite, ma non è facile metabolizzare, dopo una ridda di voci la notizia che avrete letto su ogni quotidiano, ogni sito musicale, ogni rivista, è quella che Chick Corea ci ha lasciato il 9 febbraio, la sua famiglia ha informato il mondo con qualche giorno di ritardo, pubblicando le ultime parole che Chick ha voluto lasciarci. Di seguito troverete il triste comunicato, le ultime parole di Chick ed alcune reazioni, tra le centinaia che stanno arrivando, di protagonisti del mondo del jazz, ma non solo del jazz, che dai social si ritrova con riconoscenza ed amore intorno a una figura che ha saputo attraversare molte stagioni e determinare molti cambiamenti con la propria peculiare integrità, un vero genio che dispensato la sua Arte con grande generosità e uno stile unico.

“It is with great sadness we announce that on February 9th, Chick Corea passed away at the age of 79, from a rare form of cancer which was only discovered very recently. Throughout his life and career, Chick relished in the freedom and the fun to be had in creating something new, and in playing the games that artists do. He was a beloved husband, father and grandfather, and a great mentor and friend to so many. Through his body of work and the decades he spent touring the world, he touched and inspired the lives of millions. Though he would be the first to say that his music said more than words ever could, he nevertheless had this message for all those he knew and loved, and for all those who loved him:

“I want to thank all of those along my journey who have helped keep the music fires burning bright. It is my hope that those who have an inkling to play, write, perform or otherwise, do so. If not for yourself then for the rest of us. It’s not only that the world needs more artists, it’s also just a lot of fun. And to my amazing musician friends who have been like family to me as long as I’ve known you: It has been a blessing and an honor learning from and playing with all of you. My mission has always been to bring the joy of creating anywhere I could, and to have done so with all the artists that I admire so dearly—this has been the richness of my life.” Chick’s family will of course appreciate their privacy during this difficult time of loss.”

Marcus Miller
Man, we lost Chick.
Chick Corea represented to me, the highest level of musical creativity, honesty, curiosity, and artistic fearlessness ALONG with mind-blowing technical virtuosity.
He gave us over 50 years of musical deliciousness.
… And to play with him was an even DEEPER experience… He listened so HARD…
As legendary as he is, it always felt like when you took the stage with Chick, he was saying to you, “Ok, where we goin??”.. He was excited about sharing and exploring. He couldn’t WAIT to discover something new onstage – right there in front of an audience. Like Wayne, like Herbie, like MILES..
With his 1970’s fusion of jazz, rock, latin, classical and whatever other style tickled his fancy, Chick turned a whole generation of young listeners on to jazz. He took our hand and said, “Here, come walk through this door, you will NOT regret it”.. And he changed our lives…
This one is hitting the music community hard.. We’re all texting each other, trying to find the words to capture what we feel. I don’t know that we ever considered a world without Chick Corea… Fortunately, he left us such beautiful music, the world will never really be without him..
Gonna go put on “Romantic Warrior”, then “My Spanish Heart”, then “Now He Sings, Now He Sobs”, then…….
RIP my friend –
MM

Dave Weckl
It’s difficult to find words to express my feelings after hearing about the passing of Chick Corea today. Just typing it is so surreal .. He always said to me that his greatest happiness came when he could witness anyone being free to create … that certainly held true for anyone he played with, hired or mentored … all of which I can joyfully say I experienced…
He even wanted that for his audiences, always wanting to involve them , as you can get a glimpse of in the video below from one of our shows in 2018….Chick would want us to carry on creating , spreading the joy and love of making music, to all who will listen … I fully intend to do that for as long as possible … but damn…. this is tough!! RIP Maestro!! Thank you, for everything!

Danilo Perez
I am speechless, shocked and sadden by the news of “Maestro” Chick Corea’s passing. I will forever cherish this moment in my life with these two musical giants. R.I.P Master Chick !!! and sending our condolences to the family.
Chick Corea

Yusuf / Cat Stevens
God bless Chick Corea, one of the most innovative and inspired musicians I ever had the privilege to work with. His musical art and genius were an education, not just a performance. He has now truly returned to forever, where his soul and music leaned. May peace be his ultimate achievement.

Quincy Jones
Heartbroken doesn’t even touch the tip of the iceberg of how this one feels…RIP to my dear brother-in-arms Chick Corea …One of the greatest jazz pianists & human beings to ever walk the planet. And like the true be-bopper that you were at heart, there was absolutely NOTHING that you couldn’t do musically.
I already miss you dearly my brother…Eternally thankful that our journeys aligned professionally & personally.
Heaven’s jam session is rockin’ out a bit harder tonight.

Al Di Meola
The great Chick Corea has left this life but the incredible music he gave us and the meaningful memories will live on in my mind forever. Joining Return to Forever was for me a dream come true. Chick was my favorite musician and RTF was my favorite band when I was 19 years old. It was a non stop groundbreaking musical journey. We were at the forefront of a new idiom called Jazz-Rock Fusion along with WEATHER REPORT and MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA. An extremely exciting time the mid 70’s were! Thank you, dear Chick for the legacy you gave to the world and for believing in me and giving me the chance to play with you, my hero! Rest In Peace

Renee Rosnes
One of the most difficult things about Chick Corea’s passing is to think of him in the past tense. Throughout his 79 years on earth, Chick remained so very alive. His warm, generous spirit came through in every note he played and in every space he left silent. I was always—and still am—astounded by just how prolific and multifarious his career was, how much music he composed, how much piano he played, and how centered, joyful and open he seemed to be through it all. He was no doubt a creative genius.
Last Spring of 2020, as the pandemic took hold of the world, he embarked upon 31 days of Facebook livestreaming performances and invited the world to listen and watch him “practice.” The sharing was a gift that went straight to the heart of his character. He viewed music and musicians as “the antidote to man’s inhumanity towards man,” words we can all relate to during this time.
A small moment I’ll always remember was when our band (what is now known as “Artemis”) was performing at the 2018 NorthSea Jazz Festival. Chick and Bela Fleck’s duo had preceded us on the same stage, and Chick was hanging out backstage. When the band went out to play and I sat down on the piano bench, I noticed the curtains at the far corner of the stage part, and out popped the head, and only the head of Chick! His face was wedged, below his chin, by the curtains, and he stayed there for quite some time, smiling and cheering us on! It was such a surreal experience – I was both honored and amused.
On April 17, 2020, after his 29th livestream, he said these words:
“Life is life, and the fun of it is the doing of it. The fun of life is getting involved, doing it, and then being of help to others. I find that that’s a big part of my fulfillment…is that when I know that I can cause a positive effect on my wife Gayle, on my son and daughter Thaddeus and Liana, on all our friends, and everyone who I work with: all of my musician-friends for sure, and everyone. We’re all in it together…so I get fulfilled knowing that I can contribute something.
These 29 days have helped me gather together an old intention of mine, which is an intention to want to contribute, and to want to help. I can always get on by myself and practise, write new music and just have fun with my instruments and so forth, but that alone would be a very lonely life to me – unless I can take that joy that I get out of making music and share it and do it with others – that’s why I like to play with my trio, and with my Spanish Heart Band, and with all of my friends. I’m so honored, blessed and lucky to have so many amazing, artistic musician-friends that come and join me to play…so this is the richness of my life. I’d like to be able to pass that on and be of service to you.”
So, thank you Maestro Corea for a lifetime of service. The richness of your life made us all the richer, and I am grateful for that. Your legacy and music will live forevermore.

Steve Vai
I was very fortunate to have had an opportunity to work with the great
Chick Corea. It was on the song “Rumble” for a record called “The Songs of West Side Story.”
This is a brilliant piece of music that was arranged by the phenomenal David Pack in which he created this rumble battle feel between “Chick Corea’s Electrik Band vs. Steve Vai’s Monsters.” It was recorded live at Ocean Way Studios and I recall that between both bands we had perhaps 15 so musicians in the studio. It remains one of the highlight studio experiences for me.
One of the things that I can remember so vividly was the intro. The intro was meant to start with about a minute of Chick playing an improvised solo on piano, and then we would all come in. After Chick did the intro, we were stunned into silence. I could hardly start the song being so absolutely blown away by the immense genius of this man’s performance. We did perhaps 3 takes of the entire song and each time Chick took to the piano to do his intro, something completely different but completely blow-away came out of him. It was remarkable.
But perhaps the most fun came when Chick came up to my Mothership Studio with his electric piano that was slung over his body like a guitar, and we really dueled. So much fun.
Here is a link to the recorded version. You can hear Chick’s Elektrik band panned somewhat left, and my “Monsters” panned right. It really is quite cool and has such an intense energy to it. Absolutely brilliant arrangement by David Pack and it was so so so so fantastic to be in that room with all those musicians and have that opportunity. It’s all one take and we were reading the music, but it retains that high energy live feel.

Louis Hayes
Louis Hayes would like to extend his condolences to the family of the great pianist Chick Corea who made his transition on Tuesday February 9, 2021. In this photo (taken backstage at the 2018 Detroit Jazz Festival by Jessica Webster Sendra) the two legends share some of their many experiences. Rest In Peace Chick

Django Bates
Good Bye Chick Corea. R.I.P.
A generous man, not overly-precious about himself, as shown by his public practice sessions recently and his inviting of random people to jam with him on stage in recent years!
I think his generosity is exemplified in this track. Music starts 32″ in and, after the composition, Chick just sits on the groove like a rock so the others can fly. I also love that Michael gives a cheeky smile to each band member at the beginning of this gig; also an act of generosity – make people feel good, why not?! We lose beautiful humans every day…

Christian McBride
Rest well, my friend.

John Patitucci
Today we were so shocked and devastated by the loss of @chickcorea. There aren’t enough words to express my love, gratitude and admiration for Chick and all he gave to me, my family and the world. His genius will continue to inspire many generations. I will never forget his kindness, his sense of humor, generosity, encouragement and belief in a kid from Brooklyn who just wanted to play bass in his band. We send our love to Gayle, Thad and Liana and my prayers are with them.

Joey Calderazzo
I first met Chick in 1987 while touring with Michael Brecker.He was so supportive and encouraging when we met.Over the years it was always the same.Supportive and encouraging! I can see from looking at posts from other fellow pianists he was same with them as well.
I remember Chick calling me personally when he wanted to sign me to his label (stretch records). I was 24 years old and CHick was on the phone with me..My career could have ended that day and would have been a huge success in my eyes!
Over the years I would see him on the road.We would sit at the piano and trade ideas.I always liked his more!.He taught me a few fingerings that I still use to this day.Fingerings for chromatic scales and playing a scale with two hands.
He always had time for me and that meant the world to me.If I emailed him, he would normally respond in under 15 minutes.I was always amazed by this.He wanted me to send him pictures of my son.He wanted to hear my new songs or my new records.
He did this with many.We were all special to him.I could go on and on but the most important thing about Chick is this.
This was fun for him.He was like a child with a toy.Music was his toy.He loved playing more than anyone I ever met.He was one of the most creative guys with incredible skill, but it was fun for him.
He would write to me all the time while we were on the road.he would say can you believe we get paid for doing this.The last time he wrote that was last year before Covid.
I will miss him.He has meant so much to all of us.
I love you Chick,thanks for being so kind to me all these years.

Avishai Cohen
 ”Chick my friend, you have shaped my life like no one has, or ever will. I will always love you dearly.” Avishai

Eliane Elias
It is with much sadness that I write these lines, but I feel compelled to speak about the passing of one of my dear friends and musical influences, Chick Corea. Chick was an inspiration and a strong influence in my early development. I loved his writing and playing and transcribed so many of his solos during my teens. I first met Chick in Sao Paulo in 1978, after his duet concert with Gary Burton which impressed me so deeply. I was already working professionally as a pianist, performing and touring throughout South America and seeing Chick perform that night was a highlight. After his concert, we went to the Maksoud Plaza’s hotel restaurant which stayed open for 24 hrs and had a nice piano. Chick and I hung out, talked and played piano through the night until daylight came. A few years later I moved to NY and Chick was so kind to write letters on my behalf to the US Immigration, which were greatly beneficial to my immigration process. I was so grateful for that. Being able to stay in NY changed my life. That’s almost 40 years ago.
Throughout the years Chick and I ran into each other numerous times on the road. In those moments we often talked about recording together someday, and performing piano duets. Finally, when our schedules permitted, we were able to make that happen. Coincidentally, I am in the process of mixing those recordings this week, immersed in those performances, and the news of his passing couldn’t be more of a shock to me. I had been in touch with him not long ago. In fact, in late September he invited me to be his guest at his Chick Corea Academy which he was live streaming. We had a real nice encounter and exchanged stories and piano phrases. He seemed jovial and totally healthy and from what any of us could tell then, it seemed he had a long life ahead of him.
Chick left us with so much great music. His love for the piano and for creative music has been and will continue to be an inspiration. May he rest in peace.
My deepest condolences to Chick’s family, to our colleagues and friends, to his fans and especially to Gayle, his loving wife and companion.

Wynton Marsalis
Chick in Marciac 2019 at 3 am, after playing his own 1-1/2 hour set and sitting through our 1-1/2, he agrees to come up on our bandstand for the encore, says he would rather accompany than solo, plays the hell out of a tune he doesn’t know, interacts with that deep intelligence and empathy, comes off-stage and recalls every tune of our set commenting on what he liked most, lavished praise on all of our young musician’s solos, excitedly compliments pianist Isaiah Thompson, talks about the nightly greatness of inventive and poetic trumpeter Mike Rodriguez who played with him on tour, talks about the concerto he is going to write for otherworldly trombonist Joe Alessi of the NY Philharmonic, and concludes with saying, “Man, is it actually 4am? I’ll see you in New York.”
He was one of a kind. Master, student, teacher, fan, advocate and lifelong leading citizen in the world of music. Prehistoric instincts, super quick reflexes and deep knowledge meets an unquenchable thirst to know, to experience the present and to embrace change. He left an uncommonly deep canon of diverse and high quality music. There will be a lot of framing commentary as befits the passing of a great creative and socially engaged artist. If you wish to know him better, please listen to more of his beautiful music that you have not heard.
In New Orleans fashion, mourn his death by celebrating his life. Kareem Abdul Jabbar said it best in concluding our conversation late last night, “The echo will be strong.” As it should be.
Send your deepest prayers, condolences and love to Gayle – they were peanut butter and jelly—Vegan of course. Wynton

Buonanotte, Chick Corea, grazie di tutto, dal profondo del cuore.

PS: cliccando sulla fotografia sottostante accederete ad un podcast di Birdland della Rete Due RSI Svizzera, che ringraziamo. Una lunga dissertazione critica del musicologo Maurizio Franco sulla figura di Corea come compositore, con tanta splendida musica a supporto.