Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" and "Windows" are widely considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis's band in the late 1960s, he participated in the birth of jazz fusion. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever. Along with McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett, Corea is considered to have been one of the foremost pianists of the post-John Coltrane era.
David Holland is an English double bassist, bass guitarist, cellist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States since the early 1970s.
Barry Altschul is a free jazz and hard bop drummer who first came to notice in the late 1960s for performing with pianists Paul Bley and Chick Corea.
The Song of Singing is a studio album by Chick Corea, recorded over two days in April 1970 and released on Blue Note the following year. The trio, comprising rhythm section Corea, Dave Holland and Barry Altschul, made up three fourths of the free jazz ensemble Circle—missing only Anthony Braxton.
The Revolutionary Ensemble was a free jazz trio consisting of violinist Leroy Jenkins (1932–2007), bassist Sirone and percussionist/pianist Jerome Cooper (1946–2015). The group was active from 1970–1977, and reunited briefly in 2004. Musician George E. Lewis described the trio as "one of the signal groups of the period." Writer John Fordham stated that the group "was remarkable for its concentration on texture, tone colour and the then unclaimed territory between jazz and contemporary classical music." A DownBeat reviewer, writing in 1972, described them as "a unique, utterly contemporary unit of extraordinarily talented players who possess a world understanding of what 'organized sound' is all about."
Circle was an American avant garde jazz ensemble, active in 1970 and 1971. The group arose from pianist Chick Corea's early 1970s trio with Dave Holland on bass and Barry Altschul on drums and percussion with the addition of Anthony Braxton in a leading role on several reed instruments. The group's earliest recordings were made in 1970 for the Blue Note label but not released until 1975 under Corea's name. A live double album appeared on the ECM label in 1972. These recordings document a period in which Corea's work was steeped in the jazz 'avant garde,' prior to his complete shift to the jazz fusion orientation. Corea, Holland and Altschul also recorded the album, A.R.C. for ECM in 1971, but it was not released under the band name Circle.
Chick Corea (1941–2021) was an American jazz pianist and composer born on June 12, 1941, in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Corea started learning piano at age four. He recorded his first album, Tones for Joan's Bones, in 1966. Corea performed with Blue Mitchell, Willie Bobo, Cal Tjader and Herbie Mann in the mid-1960s. In the late 1960s he performed with Stan Getz and Miles Davis. The National Endowment for the Arts states, "He ranked with Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett as one of the leading piano stylists to emerge after Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner, and he composed such notable jazz standards as 'Spain', 'La Fiesta', and 'Windows'."
The Miles Davis Quintet was an American jazz band from 1955 to early 1969 led by Miles Davis. The quintet underwent frequent personnel changes toward its metamorphosis into a different ensemble in 1969. Most references pertain to two distinct and relatively stable bands: the First Great Quintet from 1955 to 1958, and the Second Great Quintet from late 1964 to early 1969, Davis being the only constant throughout.
Water Babies is a compilation album by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. It compiled music Davis recorded in studio sessions with his quintet in 1967 and 1968, including outtakes from his 1968 album Nefertiti and recordings that foreshadowed his direction on In a Silent Way (1969), while covering styles such as jazz fusion and post-bop. Water Babies was released by Columbia Records in 1976 after Davis had (temporarily) retired.
Conference of the Birds is an album by the Dave Holland Quartet, recorded on 30 November 1972 and released on ECM the following year—Holland's debut as bandleader and fourth project for the label. The quartet features alto saxophonist Anthony Braxton, tenor saxophonist Sam Rivers, and percussionist Barry Altschul.
Circling In is a double LP collection by jazz pianist Chick Corea featuring performances recorded between 1968 and 1970, including the first recordings by the group Circle, which was first released on the Blue Note label in 1975. It contains trio performances by Corea with Miroslav Vitouš and Roy Haynes recorded in March 1968, which were later added to the CD reissue of Now He Sings, Now He Sobs as bonus tracks, and performances by permutations of the band Circle recorded in April and July 1970 some of which were later released as Early Circle.
Circulus is a double LP released under jazz pianist Chick Corea’s name, featuring performances recorded in 1970 by the free jazz group Circle, which was first released on the Blue Note label in 1978.
Bitches Brew Live is a live album by Miles Davis. The album was released in February 2011 and contains material compiled from two concert performances. Most of the songs on the album originally appeared on Bitches Brew. The first three tracks were recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1969, nine months before the release of Bitches Brew, while the rest of the album was recorded at 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. The three cuts from Newport—"Miles Runs the Voodoo Down", "Sanctuary", and "It's About That Time/The Theme"—were previously unreleased at the time and have since been reissued on Miles Davis at Newport 1955–1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4. This recording marks the first known time that "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" was professionally recorded. The final six cuts appeared on the "Miles Electric" DVD in video form and the audio portion was included in the box set Miles Davis: The Complete Columbia Album Collection. A seventeen-minute segment appeared under the title "Call It Anything" on the First Great Rock Festivals of the Seventies: Isle of Wight/Atlanta Pop Festival compilation album in 1971.
1969 Miles: Festiva de Juan Pins is a live album by Miles Davis recorded at the jazz festival in La Pinède, Juan-les-Pins, Antibes, France, as an ORTF radio broadcast.
Afternoon of a Georgia Faun is an album by American jazz saxophonist Marion Brown recorded on August 10, 1970 and released on ECM later that year. The sextet features fellow saxophonists Anthony Braxton and Bennie Maupin, pianist Chick Corea, and vocalists Jeanne Lee and Gayle Palmore, backed by two percussionists on one side and five on the other.
A.R.C. is an album by American jazz pianist Chick Corea, British jazz bassist Dave Holland and American jazz drummer Barry Altschul, recorded over January 11–13, 1971 and released on ECM later that year.
Paris-Concert is a live double album by the short-lived jazz band Circle recorded at the Maison de l'O.R.T.F. in Paris on February 21, 1971 and released on ECM the following year. The quartet consists of reed player Anthony Braxton and rhythm section Chick Corea, David Holland and Barry Altschul.
Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 is a 3 CD + 1 DVD live album of the Miles Davis Quintet featuring saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Chick Corea, bassist Dave Holland, and drummer Jack DeJohnette. This particular line-up became known as "The Miles Davis Lost Quintet" as it did not record in the studio in this configuration. The CDs contain recordings of two concerts in France and one in Sweden and the DVD has an additional concert recorded in Germany.
The Complete Braxton is an album by American jazz saxophonist and composer Anthony Braxton recorded in 1971 and released on the Freedom label. It features a variety of musicians, including trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, pianist Chick Corea, bassist Dave Holland, drummer Barry Altschul, and the London Tuba Ensemble.
Circle 2: Gathering is an album by Circle, a free jazz quartet that featured multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton, pianist Chick Corea, double bassist Dave Holland, and drummer Barry Altschul. The group's final studio session prior to their break-up, it was recorded on May 17, 1971, at Upsurge Studio in New York City, and was released on vinyl later that year by CBS/Sony Japan. Along with Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert, the album was reissued on CD by Corea's Stretch label during the 1990s.
