When it comes to modern forms of jazz, I was never a fan of the late Chick Corea’s work in the fusion megaband Return to Forever. I was a Weather Report guy.
However, I was totally into Corea’s classic duets with Gary Burton on vibes (see the epic 1979 live version of “Crystal Silence” at the top of this post) and his lovely “Children’s Songs” collection, for solo piano.
I can also remember debates long ago among my friends — secular and religious — about the impact that Corea’s embrace of the Church of Scientology would have on his life and music. After all, he was an instrumental musician. Were the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard supposed to have soaked into his unique chord voicings and the sparkling rhythms of his compositions?
This leads me to the solid New York Times obituary for Corea, who died recently after a short battle with a rare form of cancer. The double-decker headline on this feature covered a lot of ground:
Chick Corea, Jazz Keyboardist and Innovator, Dies at 79
When jazz and rock fused in the 1970s, he was at the forefront of the movement. But he never abandoned his love of the acoustic piano.
I’ve been thinking about this piece for a week now, wondering if it was worthy of a short post. I finally decided that it was. After all, the obit’s brief treatment of the religion angle demonstrated a classic puzzle that GetReligion has discussed many times in the past, linked to coverage of athletes, actors, writers, etc. Here is that section of the Times piece:
In the early 1970s, Mr. Corea converted to Scientology, and the religion’s teachings informed much of his music from then on, including his work with Return to Forever.
Armando Anthony Corea was born on June 12, 1941, in Chelsea, Mass., near Boston. His father, also named Armando Corea, was a trumpeter and bandleader in Boston, and his mother, Anna (Zaccone) Corea, was a homemaker. He began studying piano when he was 4.
And that was that. What puzzled me, of course, was this statement: “Corea converted to Scientology, and the religion’s teachings informed much of his music from then on. …”
The word “informed” is interesting. However, my journalism question, in this case, was practical, rather than philosophical.
Hear me out. If the science fiction of Hubbard and the religious teachings and methods of Scientology played such a major role in Corea’s art, maybe the Times team could have included a sentence or two explaining that? Maybe a few practical examples or, perhaps, a quote from Corea (or Hubbard) demonstrating what this influenced looked like, in practice?
These religious teachings shaped “much” of his music? That implied some pieces composed by Corea were influenced by these teachings more than others (as opposed to J.S. Bach signing “Soli Deo Gloria” at the end of every piece — from, logically enough, sacred choral music to solo organ masterworks).
This was, apparently, an important force in the life of a great artist. Maybe it was worth a few sentences?
I looked elsewhere and, in mainstream media, didn’t find coverage that shed much light on this theme. Here is part of an NPR feature (“Chick Corea, Jazz Fusion Pioneer, Has Died Of Cancer At 79”) that added a bit more content — which only raised more questions.
After moving to New York as a young man, Corea played with Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria and other Latin jazz bandleaders like vibraphonist Cal Tjader and flutist Herbie Mann. …
At around the same time, Corea had his first encounter with Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, a book by L. Ron Hubbard that forms a cornerstone of Scientology. Corea became a prominent Scientologist, dedicating his albums to Hubbard and embracing archetypes of the religion in his album and song titles.
The social media announcement of his death included words from Corea himself: "I want to thank all of those along my journey who have helped keep the music fires burning bright. It is my hope that those who have an inkling to play, write, perform or otherwise, do so. If not for yourself then for the rest of us. It's not only that the world needs more artists, it's also just a lot of fun. …”
OK, I’ll ask. So Corea embraced “archetypes of the religion in his album and song titles.” Maybe there was room for one or two examples? “To the Stars”? “Antidote”? “The Road to Freedom”?
It appears that, to Corea, Scientology was a major force in his life. If that is a fact worth mentioning in one sentence in an obit, why not offer a few facts that illustrated what that meant to him?
Just asking. Like I said, this is an issue that we have seen in other obits and tribute features.