THE Duet live at the Barbican

‘Two’s company and three’s a crowd’ is an old saying.  In Jazz, that is seldom true.  However, forty years after their first duet collaboration, Chick Corea and Gary Burton prove that sometimes old sayings don’t need to be repeated to contain more than a little wisdom if not an absolute expression of the truth.

The problem with writing about music I like, and especially the musicians who are long time favourites, is that superlatives begin to lose their meaning.  Last Wednesday evening’s Barbican concert by THE Duet was simply superlative in every respect and, with that said, I will endeavour to leave some of the many adjectives that come to mind out of this blog: brilliant, exciting, intelligent, inspiring, uplifting, creatively original (ok ‘creatively’ is an adverb) … I’m going to stop, now.

Take it as read that Chick is my number one favourite pianist in any genre and that, as regular readers will already know, Gary Burton’s music played a seminal role in my jazz education.  It’s also worth noting that I own at least thirty albums on which each or both of them are featured or lead including several by The Duet itself.  I had originally intended this blog entry to catalogue and review a whole host of gigs that I have seen The Duet play.  However, they were so terrific on Wednesday night that I decided to make this into a one-off concert review; in taking this tack, left on one side are a club performance on New Year’s Eve 2001 going into 2002 at The Blue Note in New York and a concert on a cold night in the Winter of 1982 at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane.

Chick Corea is one of those rare musicians who are able to slot his readily identifiable sound and technique into just about any genre of music and play it as well as anyone else.  On the broad palette that Jazz, itself, offers, Chick excels in any style – bebop, stride, Latin, fusion and more besides.  Although the vibraphone has a sound that is limited, Gary Burton’s ability to use the instrument reveals a versatility that would seem improbable in the hands of others. 

Having bought the new album ‘Hot House’ ahead of the gig; albeit that I had only listened to it once, I had some idea of where the two might be leading the music on the night.

The concert kicked off with two long time staples of the Duet’s repertoire.  ‘Love Castle’ originally appeared on the first Burton/Corea duet album ‘Crystal Silence’.  It was repurposed for the 2007 concert and album with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.  The melody offers plenty of scope for improvisation.  ‘Native Sense’ is a fabulous piece and the first showpiece for the vibrant groove Chick creates with his left hand – of which there were some special moments later in the concert.

Having warmed up with a couple of oldies, the pair began to attack the contents of their new album.  Showcasing predominantly covers by some of their favourite composers from the 1940’s through to the 1960’s, the selections included lesser known works by Dave Brubeck (‘Strange Meadow Light’), Tadd Dameron (‘Hot House’) and ‘Can’t we be friends’ written by Kay Swift and Paul James but on which some stride figures prominently featured in a tribute to Art Tatum.

The second set began with readings of Scriabin’s Prelude No 4 and Bartok’s Bagatelle No 2.  Having heard Chick play pieces by both Mozart and Prokofiev at previous concerts I was prepared for his personal approach to the Classical book.  Burton added some interesting counterpoint as well as intelligent soloing to pieces originally written for solo piano. 

Each time I see Burton play I watch as closely as I can to try and work out how he accomplishes the seemingly physical impossible feat of using four mallets – especially during the solos.  I have given up – but the sound he produces is beautiful and watching him play is mesmerising.  I had not previously heard him playing classical pieces.  Bartok is challenging at the best of times and both musicians rose to that challenge.  However, what they created on the Scriabin started off as a reading of a classical piece that became fusion and then total musical synthesis.  Hopefully they will record it; I would even buy it on CD single!  The clue to the duo’s next project was contained in the only original on the new album, ‘Mozart Goes Dancing’, which is scored to include a string quartet, played on the night without. 

The only number that was not introduced before it was played was an unusual arrangement of ‘Eleanor Rigby’.  The left hand rhythms were reminiscent of some of Chick’s work on the original ‘Duet Suite’; they were spellbinding and led to Corea’s self-effacing comment at the end that he needed to keep practising them.  Paul McCartney’s familiar melody emerges from the rhythm giving both musicians plenty of opportunity to highlight musical elements of the piece that have always been hidden beneath its melody but which have not previously been heard; this piece alone is worth the price of the new album.  One other piece from ‘Hot House’ included in the second set was Antonio Carlos Jobim’s ‘Chega de Saudade’.

A final surprise was the introduction of long time collaborator Tim Garland, a Brit of course, who wrote the arrangements of Corea’s pieces for the Sydney Symphony.  Choosing the soprano saxophone from his arsenal of instruments, Garland came on stage for the encore that included an uplifting reading of much-recorded ‘La Fiesta’ complete with its disparate intro and Latin swirls and chorus.  Garland is an intelligent player who knows exactly how to use space and makes a lot out of placing notes and runs exactly where his accompanists make sure of their maximum effect.  The final piece was, I think, by Thelonius Monk; it’s one of those I have heard dozens of times and I can whistle it – badly – but can never remember its name.  In any event, with all three musicians populating its jerky theme with thoughtful solos it proved a fitting close to what was a wonderful and memorable evening.

Duet albums by Gary Burton and Chick Corea in my collection start with ‘Duet’ originally released by ECM on vinyl in 1979; I also have the CD reissue.  ‘Native Sense’ is a CD released by Stretch records in 1997.  ‘The New Crystal Silence’ is a double CD, the first of which includes orchestral arrangements by Tim Garland of Duet favourites played by them and accompanied by Sydney symphony Orchestra conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer; the second CD features the Duet alone; it was released in 2007 by Concord Records. ‘Hot House’ is a CD released in 2012 also on Concord.  ‘Like Minds’ is a CD released in 1998 by Concord and features Gary Burton and Chick Corea in a supergroup quintet with Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes and Dave Holland.