Today's Fredlines: March 11, 2009 Archive

Piano Puzzler in the style of...Chick Corea?

Posted at 11:20 AM on March 11, 2009 by Fred Child (2 Comments)

Spoiler alert! If you haven't heard this week's Piano Puzzler by Bruce Adolphe, and you don't want to know...don't scroll down. Stop reading right now. Click to another website. Here's a nice picture to distract your eyes. Don't look below it.

Bruce wrote this week's Piano Puzzler in the style of Bela Bartok. And I got this note from PT listener Robert Foote in Athens, Georgia:

"I just heard the piano puzzler with the answer of My Bonnie and Bartok. The first composer that came to mind when I heard this was Chick Corea, but modern jazz composers aren't used for the puzzlers. But this made me wonder how much Chick Corea has been influenced by Bartok?"

First of all, Robert...I can hear what you mean! Chick Corea often uses a punchy, rhythmic staccato style similar to what Bruce employed this week, and the harmonies even sound like some of Corea's recordings.

I can't speak for Chick, but he's *really* good about answering fan questions on his website. (Ask Chick about Bartok, or anything else, here.)

Only he can answer the question about influence, but Chick Corea certainly knows from Bartok. In 1978, he and Herbie Hancock recorded a wild duet version of an ostinato from Bartok's Mikrokosmos. (Preview or download it here.)

Oh, and...why that picture? Chick Corea has teamed up with banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck. Fleck's parents named him after...Bela Bartok.

I kid you not. (Scroll down on that page for details.)

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