Record of the day: Corea, Hammond, Atschul, “ARC”

Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Barry Altschul
“ARC” (ECM CD 1009)

A fabulous album, which will thrill you with its continuous waves of energy expressed through a violent and uncompromising yet incredibly communicative language. It’s 1971 and pianist Chick Corea hasn’t yet decided to turn his back on his talent as an artist to grab handfuls of dollars; together with double bass player Dave Holland (another genius of his instrument who had worked with Corea in Miles Davis’ electric group) and the excellent drummer Barry Altschul, Corea creates this album for the then very young Ecm label, where extraordinary pages are poured out with the power of a volcano in full activity that retrace the paths of free jazz in a very personal way.

From the initial revisitation of Wayne Shorter’s classic “Nefertiti” the listener immediately understands that this album does not offer him just any musical experience; the music is dense, harsh, it moves between continuous rhythmic jolts with sudden flashes that are followed by equally sudden moments of greater reflection.
The melodic-harmonic coordinates of the jazz tradition have disappeared, pulverized by Corea in a kaleidoscopic pianism that manages to look at Cecil Taylor and Bud Powell in equal measure, sculpting each phrase in its own way, with a brilliant sound and a virtuosity that cannot be confused with that of others.

Holland’s bass has a robust sound that the soloist’s great technical ability makes extremely flexible, alternating virtuosic passages with lyrical oases where Holland’s excellent use of the bow stands out, often used beyond the bridge to obtain an alienated sound. Altschul’s colorful percussions intelligently counterpoint the exchange of ideas between bass and piano through interventions of a more abstract nature but not devoid of authentic swing.

There is never a drop in tension, the musicians are inspired and continue to bounce ideas off each other tirelessly, both in the transparent textures of the incipit of “Vedana” (which subsequently takes on increasingly fragmented rhythmic contours) and in the almost pointillist conversation of “Games”, in an expressive climate of absolute freedom that asks a lot of the listener but repays him with compositions of absolute beauty.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical subjects.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: Un disco per ogni giorno dell’anno” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.