Duke Performances is now Duke Arts presents. Learn more.

Duke Arts Presents

Chick Corea
Solo Piano

Friday, April 18, 2014 | 8:00 pm

Baldwin Auditorium


The legendary Chick Corea’s career “is among the most kaleidoscopic in jazz,” says the New York Times. That drive to explore has propelled collaborations with masters such as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Gary Burton and has won him 20 Grammy awards — including two for his 2012 album Hot House.

When he visits Durham this season for a solo performance at the rejuvenated Baldwin auditorium, Chick will bring a perfect balance of in-the-moment improvisation, Corea classics, jazz standards, classical renderings, and the inimitable “Children’s Songs.”

Corea’s forthcoming solo CD, Portraits, is titled for an extraordinary feat of improvisation that, while rare, Chick occasionally includes in his solo shows. The artist asks for volunteers from the audience, sits them down one at a time next to the piano, and proceeds to paint a musical “portrait” unique to each individual. The evening stands to be a pure distillation of one of the most remarkable careers in jazz: moving and profound, in the pure Chick Corea spirit of play.