A return to OCC for Corea sounds great forever

/ September 20, 2014
Chick Corea and The Vigil play Friday at Onondaga Community College.

Chick Corea and The Vigil play Friday at Onondaga Community College.

The last time Chick Corea played on the campus of Onondaga Community College some three years ago the American jazz legend was on a huge stage with one of the world’s biggest band’s headlining an enormous free jazz festival.

Yes, that night in June 2011 was hugely memorable for all that saw that tingling set by piano player Corea and his mates in Return to Forever IV.

Late Friday afternoon, however, Corea brought his newest band to a smaller venue. The Vigil kicked off this season’s Legends of Jazz Series presented by OCC and the Syracuse Jazz Fest with two sets in intimate Storer Auditorium. Corea was a half-hour later than the advertised time of 4:30, and so he apologized, explaining that he first saw the halls for science and history. And some seagulls. “Onondaga,” he said. “Special.”

What was special for the crowd of 300 or so, a delightful mix of students of all ages, professional musicians and music lovers, was the band of five and the sounds they made together.

The Vigil is Marcus Gilmore on drums and Tim Garland on saxes and flute at Charles Altura on guitar at Luisito Quintero on percussion and Carlitos Del Puerto on upright bass.

They hail from Berkeley, Calif.; and London, England; and Queens, N.Y.; and Caracas, Venezueala; and Havana, Cuba. You could hear the pride in Corea’s voice, that native of Massachusetts who’s won the hearts of the world with his innovative piano work.

And their work on “Fingerprints,” the counterpoint to “Footprints” that Corea called a warmup, and “Royalty,” from Gilmore’s grandfather, drum legend Roy Haynes, and the late Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucia’s “Zyryab” and Corea’s classic “Spain” were increasingly passionate and memorable, enough to be called back for an encore even though there was a second set to come for a whole new crowd.

The series continues with shows Oct. 31 by The Heath Brothes, Feb. 21 by vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant and March 27 by the Rebirth Brass Band. All play sets at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. at Onondaga Community College’s Storer Auditorium. Call 315-498-2772 or go to 222.srcarena.com to order tickets.

Have you ever seen a big-name talent in a small venue, and if so, who and where? Have you seen Chick Corea play, and if so, with which of his bands? What’s your favorite jazz song?

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44 thoughts on “A return to OCC for Corea sounds great forever”

  1. Yay, your concert experience 🙂 Were the others as awesome?

    I’ve been to very few concerts in my life, but did see Trampled By Turtles (a local band starting to climb, but a big name in Minnesota) at a dive bar in Mankato, Minnesota. Do you know the group? They were on Letterman a few years back and did a big tour this year. My favorite song of theirs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjdkc14-zwQ

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    • I have heard of them even before your prompt, Liz, You ought to be proud to call them Minnesota’s own. Cool beans! The other show I went to this past weekend was great, local jazz folks. I’ll write about it Wednesday, here and in my commuity blog on the other site, too. 🙂

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  4. I saw him with Return to Forever about 750 years ago. Honestly, I thought some of it was kind of tedious.

    Go see the Heath Brothers if you can. What a memorable show THAT was! Also, about 750 years ago.

    I saw KISS tour their second album, Hotter Than Hell in a small hall. The opening act was the pre-Steve Perry Journey touring their first album, which was very spacy and jazzy in spots. Ex-Spiders from Mars drummer Ansley Dunbar was with them, along with the always-spectacular, underrated Neil Schon. Schon was Santana’s guitarist when he was just 17. Did you know?

    I’m sorry…what was the question?

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    • KISS in a small hall, pre Steve Perry Journey, Spiders from Mars Ansley Dunbar on skins, Neil Schol with Carlos. Yes, I know. Love music, Mark. Father was a drummer in “wedding reeption” polka band. My first job was a roadie loading his drums into and out of his woodie station wagon once I got big enough to lift the bass drum. Music on his stereo 100 percent of the time. WNEW AM with Jonathon Schwartz playing Sinatra on AM radio when I was 10. Charlie Daniels Band opening for New Riders of the Purple Sage at SUNY Stony Brook, me and my HS friends when we were sophomores, first concert. Yep. Gotcha. Mott the Hoople, All the Young Dudes.

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      • Do I understand correctly that you saw Mott tour ‘All The Young Dudes?’ (A Bowie song, btw.) I’ll never top that one. I was a huge fan of theirs. Them and Roxy Music. I loved all that Brit glam stuff. My first album purchase ever: ‘The Hoople.’ I was fascinated with the cover, looking at all the faces in her hair. You used to be able to get really lost in album covers. Not anymore. Schwartz is part of my past, as well. Same station. He’s got a gig over on Sirius satellite radio.

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      • I wish I saw Mott. No, I was dropping that in because it tied with the theme of our comments. And you are right, it is a Bowie song, though I like Mott’s version better. And I just like saying Mott the Hoople dropping the H. I loved that album, too, and studying, hard, covers as art and reading the damn liner notes. (And using the double albums to clean stems and seeds back in the day, yes I did.) I know Jonathon is on satellite. Once in a while I catch him in the car, thankfully. His voice still soothes me.

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      • A few summers ago I saw Ian Hunter play a free outdoor concert at Battery City park on the southern tip of Manhattan. It wasn’t a big crowd. I thought back to those times I was growing up in Cleveland and he filled Public Hall (8,000 seats) when he was with Mott. I was too young to go. I saw Nick Lowe at the same venue later in the summer. Again, for free. It all fades away.

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  5. I’m so jealous Mark. I’ve never seen anyone in a small performance, just the humongous places where you need binoculars just to see the stage. Unless, of course, I would count Florence Henderson, who is practically a native of Owensboro, and always came back for the opening of the performance season at the Riverpark Center. And I guess I really should count Florence, just because she IS almost a native, and a darn good performer.

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      • Great story, Mark. Joe Jackson lecturing a pavilion crowd for steppin’ out. That’s got to be in a concert irony textbook somewhere. I love the guy’s music, though, all phases, Gotta Read In the Sunday Papers right on through to that massive hit album of 1980. Not a bad song on that album. On that tour, true story, I took a nice girl I met at our favorite U of Maryland edge-of-campus bar to JJ’s concert at DC’s Constitution Hall and after the show we had to walk the blocks around the venue for two hours to find my car. And she still agreed to go out on another date with me!

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      • That’s hilarious! Joe Jackson obviously takes courtesy seriously 😉 Glad to meet you and your blog looks fab. My hometown is Scranton PA and now I call greater Phoenix AZ home. Oh, spent a summer in Ocean City NJ, so I get the whole exile thing 😉

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      • Yep! It’s TOO HOT until Halloween and then…lovely for months 🙂 Oh, I told my husband about this Joe Jackson chat and he laughed, remembering that Jackson had been very blunt (some might say discourteous) about his distain for the American beer he had been served. Ah, the good old days.

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    • Ella Fitzgerald. I wish, I wish. I did see Aretha Franklin, who I bet saw Ella at some point in her life, and loved her music, too. So that makes me feel good. I vamped on Joe on Exile on Pain Street’s comment on the post here. Please do see it. Its a don’t miss story.

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  7. That sounds like a really enjoyable shpw Mark. I love smaller live venues. It is so much more intimate and amazing. The closest I ever came was when I saw John Denver at a theater in Dalhousie University (my old alma mater) back in th late 70’s. The theater held about 500 people and was acoustically astounding. Denver soon discovered the acoustics and turned off the micophone and spoke in a conversational tone – and everyone all the way to the back could hear him clearly. He was quite funny and when they started a song and he wasn’t quite satisfied with it, he told the band to stop and start over again.”Come on guys, all these people have come a long way tp hear us play well and we have to give them our best.” Ha! hearing and seeing a professional singer/band live in a small venue is so personal and impactful that it cannot really be explained to anyone who hasn’t had the chance. I would recommend it for anyone who had the opportunity.

    Great post Mark. Thank You.

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  8. Mark … Does the Landmark count? It’s hosted many huge talents. As a former OCC grad, I would have loved to have been in the audience to see Chick Corea. The Syracuse Jazz Fests also bring out major talent. So glad you got to see him. 😉

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  9. I am envious of your seeing Chick Corea in his new internationally connected jazz band, “The Vigil.” I have seen a few individuals, without their back up bands, in smaller venues. I enjoyed Harry Chapin, Tom Chapin, (who sings almost as well as his brother), Todd Rundgren and at the Agora, not such a big place, Jeff Beck and Michael Stanley band. There have been times in my life, where the big venues excited me like what was once called, Riverside Stadium in Cincy, with Elton John and Kiki Dee. His version of “Cincinnati Freedom” got the crowd roaring and dancing the entire time, for the other songs! He stood on his bench, he jumped around and Kiki Dee was fun, too! I will take music anyway I can get it, Mark!!

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  10. Yes I have! Montreal used to have a bar called Moustache and when bands came to play at the forum they sometimes dropped in to the Moustache for a surprise set. I saw the Moody Blues and Steppenwolfe, sadly I missed the Rolling Stones. ❤
    Diana xo

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  11. oh, how lucky you were to have seen cc in this venue, i love when musicians choose to play smaller, more intimate places, even though they could fill a huge venue if they wanted to. it is much more crowd friendly and involves the audience in a whole other way.

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  12. WHAT? I am surprised, amazed, and disbelieving that you just saw Chick Corea (one of my favorite jazz players, ever, who I finally included in my blog this week). I — who have seen CC play live in a small venue in Boston, many years ago — had no idea that he was touring. Is there really this much synchronicity going on between you and me, Mark?

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