performance is to successfully communicate with an audience. On the opening weekend of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, the communicator he is.
At Hamer Hall on Friday, Corea and fellow American Gary Burton met on stage to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Crystal Silence, their first recording as a duo.
Even back in 1972, the two felt an instant creative rapport, and their musical conversations are still as richly rewarding as ever.
Friday's performance brimmed with drama, invention and wit, as from Native Sense (their 1997 recording) and Crystal Silence.
Most of the compositions were by Corea, and several were infused heart.
Others, such as No Mystery, had more in common with classical chamber music, Burton and Corea sweeping up and down their respective keyboards in breathtaking unison runs.
constant variations as the players darted over, under and through each other's phrases without ever getting in each other's way. For an encore, Corea joined his long-time colleague at the vibraphone on Armando's Rhumba, intersecting Burton's ravishingly fleet lines with cartoonish glee.
Lyall.
jazz standards with original compositions by Chindamo - among them, a memorable new tune Something Will Come to Light, which flowed with an almost cinematic lyricism.
territory without ever sounding strained, and on The Manic bluesy strut.
Later that day, Danish trumpeter Jens Winther performed in the same auditorium, offering crisp original compositions in the company of a polished and committed quintet.
Burton (who, after 30 years at the Berklee College of Music, is a improvisation, suggesting ways that a musician can - and, to his mind - should become a storyteller, rather than merely an accomplished technician, in order to connect with an audience.
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