Chick Corea: Past, Present & Futures : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Chick Corea's sense of invention hasn't let up for some three decades, and his latest ensemble -- a trio with bassist Avishai Cohen and drummer Jeff Ballard -- applies a lively, spare combo dynamic to compositions that incorporate a variety of dance themes. The playful "Jitterbug Waltz," with its glossy piano, brushy drums and plucky bass lines, sounds like something the Peanuts gang would dig. "The Chelsea Shuffle" (dedicated to Corea's old high school friends in Massachusetts) swaggers around a bolder theme. Latin rhythms percolate subtly in "Rhumba Flamenco," while "Anna's Tango" simmers with more flamboyant flair. "Life Line" closes the album with an homage to the heart and soul of indigenous musics around the world, a pulsing, percussive affair brimming with joie de vivre. But no matter where or when the New Trio finds its inspiration, Past, Present & Futures unwinds with an elegant spontaneity that gives it extemporaneous charm in the here and now. (SANDY MASUO -- April 10, 2001)

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