In an unlikely pairing of piano and banjo, Chick Corea and Béla Fleck joined together in 2006 to explore what had yet been unexplored in music. Now Corea and Fleck are on tour together to celebrate a new album of their most compelling live performances.
Corea and Fleck will bring their unique duet of bluegrass and jazz improvisation to the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center on Friday, Oct. 2. The show is set for 8 p.m. in the ASC’s Jemison Concert Hall, 1200 10th Ave. South. Tickets are $35, $45 and $59. Student tickets are $21. Call 205-975-2787 or visit www.AlysStephens.org.
This is the duo’s second, back-by-popular-demand appearance at the ASC; performing together, these two master musicians weave duets of staggering virtuosity, creating mind-blowing magic.
Together, Corea and Fleck have been awarded 36 golden gramophone awards and nominated 93 times.
The fourth-most-nominated artist in Grammy history, Corea has attained living-legend status as a DownBeat Hall of Famer, NEA Jazz Master, keyboard virtuoso, bandleader and composer. He has charted new territory in an array of genres, including fusion, flamenco and even classical: His Piano Concerto No. 2 headlined Vienna’s Mozart celebrations this year.
Fleck is considered by many to be the premier banjo player in the world. He has virtually reinvented the image and the sound of the banjo through a music career filled with solo projects and collaborations. Fleck has been nominated in more Grammy categories than any other artist, including jazz, bluegrass, pop, country, gospel, composition and world music.
In 2006, Corea (an admirer of the banjoist’s bluegrass-meets-bebop band the Flecktones) and Fleck (long inspired by Corea’s “Return to Forever” ensemble) went into the studio with new material they had written for the recording date. The result: “The Enchantment,” which not only was deemed one of the best recordings of 2007 but also sparked multiyear international live tours where sold-out crowds were treated to Corea’s and Fleck’s genre-shattering, jaw-dropping displays of technical mastery, all delivered with deep emotion and an unexpected spirit of play.
The best performances from those years of touring comprise “Two,” the duo’s simply titled, live double-album, which was just released on Concord Jazz. The track list includes compositions from “The Enchantment,” which are re-worked with boundary-stretching improvisation, Corea and Fleck classics, and choice new music added to the repertoire along the way.