Jazz Legend Chick Corea has died of cancer at the age of 79, writes Anastasia Tsioulcas of NPR. She writes (abridged):
The keyboardist, composer and bandleader Chick Corea — one of the most revered figures in contemporary jazz, but an artist whose work spanned fusion to classical — died on Feb. 9 at age 79.
Dan Muse from Chick Corea Productions confirmed his death to NPR on Thursday afternoon. Corea’s team also reported his death on social media, saying that he died from “a rare form of cancer which was only discovered very recently.” No other details about his illness and death were shared.
A pianist whose crisp touch and clarion tone were always buoyed by an effervescent way with rhythm, Corea loomed large in a jazz landscape that branched in many directions. His 1968 album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs has long been a touchstone for the modern acoustic piano trio, a format to which he often returned; in 2019 he released another album in that vein, Trilogy 2, with bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade.
As well as being named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2006, Corea has won 23 Grammys. He has been nominated a total of 67 times, including twice for Trilogy 2 this year.
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