Another Legend Lost a Little Too Soon

This is a personal one for me, as his musical genius is highly influential in my composing and improvising, as I'm sure it is for many others. His playing and written works were progressive in the truest sense of the word, yet indicated a profound understanding and respect for what came before. From him, you can hear standard Bop, but also the newest modal styles that became important in the 60s and 70s. You can hear Classical, Impressionist, Modernist, and Contemporary. You can hear the Spanish music of his heritage (half of his heritage at least), as well as the sounds of Latin America, like Samba and Bossa Nova. And of course, his forays into Jazz-Rock and Jazz-Funk. And it is his fusion and observance of all these things that truly make him progressive.

From his work with Miles Davis, to his Fusion groups Return to Forever and Elektric Band, his various quartets and trios, his incredible solo material, and his very personal solo piano works, Chick embodied emotion AND virtuosity. I am so fortunate to have seen him play live a few years ago, and I will never forget it.

It is with his passing that I again would like to make it known that I really think his solo material has earned him a spot in the JR/F pantheon on this site. His material from the mid to late 70s into the early 80s is not only textbook Fusion, but actually PROGGY. 

-The Leprechaun

-My Spanish Heart

-The Mad Hatter

-Friends

-Secret Agent

-Tap Step

These albums alone qualify him. Tracks like The Leprechaun, Night Sprite, El Bozo, The Mad Hatter Rhapsody, Drifting, Samba Song, etc. ooze prog in addition to his common blend of post bop Jazz, Latin, and Spanish flavors. In fact, I would consider them closer to Prog than anything Miles or Herbie ever did (no disrespect to them, they are legends in their own right, but they also played with CHICK). I would go so far as to say that a MAJORITY of Chick's output is no where near traditional Jazz in any context of time. He was ALWAYS pushing boundaries.

And for these reasons, I mourn him. I know above it seemed like I was pretty salty, but I'm not. I'm just trying my best to explain how important this man was to me, and how even more important he will become now that I am bolstered to investigate more of his work. I urge anyone who is not familiar with his solo work, and who enjoy RTF especially, to check out the above-mentioned albums, or anything else by him.

He is no more, but he is survived by his music. Well... I suppose he lives on in some space ship or whatever weird cr*p those Scientologists believe in. Either way, celebrate his work.