Chick Corea Biography

Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (born June 12, 1941) is a multiple Grammy Award winning American jazz pianist/keyboardist and composer.

He is arguably best known for his work during the 1970s in the genre of jazz fusion, although his contributions to straight-ahead jazz have been tremendous. He participated in the birth of the electric fusion movement as a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, and in the 1970s formed Return to Forever.

He continued to pursue other collaborations and explore various musical styles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Among jazz pianists, Corea is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential since Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner (along with modern contemporaries Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett). His piano performance showed a similarity to Hancock; yet he maintained a distinctly individual voice. He is also known for promoting Scientology.

Under the "special thanks" notes, found in all of his later albums, Corea mentions that the author L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Scientology movement, has been a continual source of inspiration. In 1968 Corea discovered Dianetics, Hubbards principal work, and in the early 1970's an interest in Hubbard's science fiction novels also developed. The two had personal contact; they exchanged letters until Hubbard's death in 1986, and Corea even did some work on music Hubbard had written, noting, "[Hubbard] was a great composer and keyboard player as well. He did many, many things. He was a true Renaissance Man."

Scientology became a profound influence on Corea's musical direction in the early 1970s, causing him to break up Circle and form Return to Forever. He described his change of motivation:

Over the years, he has been nominated for 45 Grammy Awards out of which he has won 12: