Welcome to another new edition of our bi-weekly record-diving sampling extravaganza!
Thank you all for joining @natehorn and I for another week of sampling goodness! Before we get into our artist and track in focus, and in case you aren’t already aware, there are some other Mission Briefs/Challenges currently taking place that you may also fancy spending some time on here:
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@flipinfantile and @Unifono are co-hosting Elektronauts Hip Hop Battle #26 - Fab Four
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RESULTS HERE: FIRE ALERT
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“Don’t let the crazies in the world stop your beautiful creative process.” - Chick Corea
@everyone, I ask if you could all please join us this week in honoring the memory of our dear friend @looms’s loved one. May they rest amongst all of the finest in paradise, and may we be able to contribute something collectively that will cherish their memory and celebrate their existence.
The sample track for this week is one that I’ve been holding onto for a while, and is quite possibly one of the most beautiful songs ever made (personal opinion). “Crystal Silence,” composed by the late Chick Corea, and accompanied by that era’s exceptional Return to Forever band, is the second track from the album Return to Forever, which was Recorded on February 2 and 3, 1972, at A & R Studios, New York City and Released in September of the same year, on the ECM Record label (ECM - 1022).
Here are some brief highlights about Chick Corea, and the album, from Wikipedia and Allmusic:
Armando Anthony “Chick” Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist.[2][3] His compositions “Spain”, “500 Miles High”, “La Fiesta”, “Armando’s Rhumba”, and “Windows” are widely considered jazz standards.[4] 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.[3] Along with McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett, Corea is considered to have been one of the foremost jazz pianists of the post-John Coltrane era.[5]
Corea continued to collaborate frequently while exploring different musical styles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He won 27 Grammy Awards and was nominated more than 70 times for the award.[6]
Corea began his professional recording and touring career in the early 1960s with Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo, Blue Mitchell, Herbie Mann, and Stan Getz. In 1966 he recorded his debut album, Tones for Joan’s Bones which was not released until 1968. Two years later he released a highly regarded trio album, Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, with drummer Roy Haynes and bassist Miroslav Vitouš.[3]
In 1968, Corea began recording and touring with Miles Davis, appearing on the widely praised Davis studio albums Filles de Kilimanjaro, In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, and On the Corner. He appeared as well as the later compilation albums Big Fun, Water Babies, and Circle in the Round.
In concert performances he frequently processed the sound of his electric piano through a ring modulator. Utilizing the unique style, he appeared on multiple live Davis albums including Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West, and Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East. His membership in the Davis band continued until 1970, with the final touring band he was part of consisting of saxophonist Steve Grossman, fellow pianist Keith Jarrett (here playing electric organ), bassist Dave Holland, percussionist Airto Moreira, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and Davis himself on trumpet.[3]
Holland and Corea departed the Davis group at the same time to form their own free jazz group, Circle, also featuring multireedist Anthony Braxton and drummer Barry Altschul. They were active from 1970 to 1971, and recorded on Blue Note and ECM. Aside from exploring an atonal style, Corea sometimes reached into the body of the piano and plucked the strings. In 1971, Corea decided to work in a solo context, recording the sessions that became Piano Improvisations Vol. 1 and Piano Improvisations Vol. 2 for ECM in April of that year.
Return to Forever is a jazz fusion album by Chick Corea, simultaneously functioning as the debut album by the first edition of the band of the same name. Unlike later albums by the group, it was released by the ECM label and produced by Manfred Eicher. The album was not released in the USA until 1975. The record is often considered one of the classic albums in electric jazz.[1]
The B side of the album includes a single long title “Sometime Ago - La Fiesta” in three distinctive parts: first the introduction made of improvisations with solos by Chick Corea on the electric piano, Stanley Clarke on double bass and Joe Farrell on flute, then a second part sung by Flora Purim, accompanied by Joe Farrell still on flute and Airto Moreira on drums and on percussion, the third part “La Fiesta” is instrumental on a flamenco tune with Farrell on soprano saxophone.
Flora Purim covers the first part of this song, Sometime Ago, on her fifth solo album released in 1976, Open Your Eyes You Can Fly on which we find George Duke, Alphonso Johnson, Hermeto Pascoal, etc.
In 1974, Stan Getz took over the 2nd part of the piece on his album Captain Marvel, namely La Fiesta. On this record we also find Chick Corea on the electric piano, Stanley Clarke on bass and Airto Moreira on percussion of Return to Forever, accompanied by Tony Williams on drums.
Then, Sometime Ago - La Fiesta, partially though, can be found on the compilation album Chick Corea - Selected Recordings published in 2002 on ECM 014 200-2.
- from www.wikipedia.com
The legendary first lineup of Chick Corea’s fusion band Return to Forever debuted on this classic album (titled after the group but credited to Corea), featuring Joe Farrell on soprano sax and flute, the Brazilian team of vocalist Flora Purim and drummer/percussionist Airto Moreira, and electric bass whiz Stanley Clarke. It wasn’t actually released in the U.S. until 1975, which was why the group’s second album, Light as a Feather, initially made the Return to Forever name. Nonetheless, Return to Forever is every bit as classic, using a similar blend of spacy electric-piano fusion and Brazilian and Latin rhythms. It’s all very warm, light, and airy, like a soft breeze on a tropical beach – hardly the sort of firebrand approach to fusion that Miles Davis, Tony Williams, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra were exploring, and far less rooted in funk or rock. Corea also bathes the album in an undertone of trippy mysticism, not only in the (admittedly dated) lyrics, but in his cosmic keyboard wanderings, which remain melodic and accessible through most of the record. There’s one genuine pop song in the groovy samba “What Game Shall We Play Today,” and while “Sometime Ago” has similar elements, it’s part of an ambitious side-long medley that features a stream-of-consciousness intro and a jubilant, Spanish/Mexican-style closing section called “La Fiesta,” complete with castanets and flamenco modes. The title track is another multi-sectioned work, featuring Corea and Purim in wordless unison on two different, catchy themes, plus breezy work from Farrell and lots of Brazilian-flavored rhythmic interplay. And the dreamy, meditative “Crystal Silence” is an underrated gem waiting to be rediscovered. Certainly, this edition of Return to Forever wasn’t inclined toward high-voltage jazz-rock (as the next one was), but this group’s two albums still stand as some of the most imaginative and distinctive early fusion recordings.
- Review by Steve Huey for www.allmusic.com
Here are two versions of the track available on YouTube, in case anyone experiences regional playback issues:
Here is a link to the FLAC version of the track and a version that has been converted to 16bit/44.1KHz wav, please delete it after using:
CHICK COREA - CRYSTAL SILENCE (FLAC)
CHICK COREA - CRYSTAL SILENCE (WAV)
links are active for one week from today (11/25/23)
Album Photos:
images from google search
THE BRIEF
YOU have been selected by the notorious Global Sound Syndicate for a top-secret operation. Not really, please, share with your friends, family, and even the talented work forces soldering SMD’s for electronics.
Mission:
-Sample any part(s) of the track we’ve nominated
-Spend no more than 1 week turning it into music
-Post your creations here for us all to enjoy
Deadline: Sunday, December 3, 2023
Submit your entry no later than 11:59 PM, Sunday, December 3, 2023, or be faced with a brief moment of self-loathing for not participating. Submissions entered on later dates are also welcome!
Compensation:
Hearts and compliments from the community
(not guaranteed)
You can use as much or as little of the sample track as you like, you just have to use it. No winners, no losers, just good times!
Every two weeks we will post a track from our record collections, ideally something you’ve not heard before. Jams, full tracks, noodles - share whatever you like!
This jam is dedicated to the memory of 
Was gonna say how much I dig the drums but I straight up dig every element.
Glad the music found you well man, it’s for an OG and as a thanks to you for always supporting, and inspiring us for all this time man you are an OG too 
seeing that 2010 was an interesting feeling, and it does not feel like it was almost 14 years ago 
