Lyle Mays and Chick Corea "classical" music

[marino]

Hi all, once again I could use a bit of assistance from the wealth of knowledge which is KC.

 

So, one of my students is going to discuss his thesis, which is about the relationship(s) between jazz and classical music.

One of the final, shorter chapters is about jazz musicians who have written "classical" music - that is, little or no improvisation, and a certain enphasis to lenght and structure, etc.

 

To my surprise, some of the names and pieces that I have suggested for research have brought little or no results. So I'd like to check whether my memory is simply playing tricks on me, or perhaps these compositions just vanished from shared knowledge...

 

1) The biggest surprise was Lyle Mays. I remember reading about various chamber music works written by Lyle along the years, but the only one that we were able to locate is this harp/viola/flute composition, recorded by the Debussy trio:

I remember the one from the Keyboard Magazine Soundpage (remember those?) a lifetime ago; that was a rendition made with samples of a piece written mainly for percussion. But I'm sure there are other pieces around. Remember, I'm looking for classical-type music, with little or no improvisation. (I know it can be argued that *every* piece that Lyle has ever written can be related to classical music, but for this research, I need that type of differentiation)

Btw I'm not looking only for pieces that were included on albums, as long as they exist and have been performed.

 

2) Chick Corea wrote his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra and a few other things.... however, I seem to remember a piece which was probably from the 90s, simply called "Quintet" - all written music. But surprisingly, no trace of it around the net - or so my student is telling me. It's possible that I'm recalling some details wrongly, of course; but I remember to have listened to it at least once, so it's been recorded at some point.

 

Any clue?

 

As always, thanks in advance!

Carlo

[moj]

Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Billy Childs and Mel Powell

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]

[GovernorSilver]

Lyle Mays book of compositions to be released tomorrow, June 26

 

https://www.lylemays.com/musicbook

[Old No7]

Definitely not jazz...

 

But the late Jon Lord comes to mind as a keyboard artist who crossed over into the classical realm.

 

His BBC obituary said:

"Lord was influenced by classical, blues and jazz but played his Hammond organ with a rock attitude...".

 

And his obit from Rock and Roll Paradise said:

"Lord"s strict reliance on the Hammond C3 organ sound, as opposed to the synthesizer experimentation of his contemporaries, places him firmly in the jazz-blues category as a band musician and far from the progressive-rock sound of Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman."

 

Old No7

[Rod S]

Maybe going outside the scope of the question, but what about George Gershwin?

[marino]

Guys, thanks, but - this whole thesis is much, much broader than the couple of subjects which I asked about. There was no space, time, or purpose, to describe it all. Keith Jarrett's classical compositions, for example, are already covered in abundance, and even Chick Corea and Lyle Mays are already in there, as are Billy Childs and certainly George Gershwin. I only need info on the two topics that I talked about.

 

Lyle Mays book of compositions to be released tomorrow, June 26

https://www.lylemays.com/musicbook

This book looks fantastic and I certainly will get it, but again, it covers Lyle's jazz compositions. Repeat: I'm well aware that both Lyle's and Chick's music can be described as having a classical-like breadth and depth, but

 

I'm looking for classical-type music, with little or no improvisation. For this research, I need that type of differentiation.

[GovernorSilver]

 

Lyle Mays book of compositions to be released tomorrow, June 26

https://www.lylemays.com/musicbook

This book looks fantastic and I certainly will get it, but again, it covers Lyle's jazz compositions.

 

I read that he composed a number of contemporary classical pieces, like the one recorded by Debussy Trio. I have not seen an indication that those works would not be included in the book. Did you hear anything different through your connections?

[marino]

 

Lyle Mays book of compositions to be released tomorrow, June 26

https://www.lylemays.com/musicbook

This book looks fantastic and I certainly will get it, but again, it covers Lyle's jazz compositions.

 

I read that he composed a number of contemporary classical pieces, like the one recorded by Debussy Trio. I have not seen an indication that those works would not be included in the book. Did you hear anything different through your connections?

 

I just recognize almost every one of the titles listed, from Lyle's jazz records.

[Brad Kaenel]

Chick Corea - 'Suite for a Hot Band'

 

[video:youtube]

[moj]

Perhaps it's Chick's Septet or Lyric Suite For Sextet (with Gary Burton) both recorded on ecm in the 80's. Here's a website with his written compositions and arrangements, no "Quintet" listed. However, I believe that Chick's 2nd Piano Concerto has a score somewhere, so the elusive "Quintet" may exist.

http://store.subitomusic.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3_102_1239&sort=20a&page=1

 

David Chesky is a jazz pianist/composer who's known for his record label, Chesky Records. However, he is a serious composer of classical music. Concerto's, Symphonies, Chamber, solo piano, ect. He even recorded a "smooth jazz" album (quiet good, imo).

Here's a jazz concert with some serious musicians.

[video:youtube]

 

Smooth Jazz album

[video:youtube]

 

The New York Chorinhos with David - Piano & Romero Lubambo- Guitar

[video:youtube]

 

Concerto No 2 for Violin and Orchestra

[video:youtube]

[GovernorSilver]

 

Lyle Mays book of compositions to be released tomorrow, June 26

https://www.lylemays.com/musicbook

This book looks fantastic and I certainly will get it, but again, it covers Lyle's jazz compositions.

 

I read that he composed a number of contemporary classical pieces, like the one recorded by Debussy Trio. I have not seen an indication that those works would not be included in the book. Did you hear anything different through your connections?

 

I just recognize almost every one of the titles listed, from Lyle's jazz records.

 

I posted a question about whether any of Lyle's contemporary classical work was included. Will report if I get a response.

[marino]

Perhaps it's Chick's Septet

Definitely Septet. My memory is starting to fail me - especially since I had heard this piece exactly once, 35 years ago.... Thanks a lot! So that's resolved.

 

Dave Ferris: Thank you, but as I said, Chick's Concerto is already covered, as is the piece for flute, bassoon and piano.

 

Now I'm just left to trace some more classical-style compositions by Lyle Mays. I'm sure to have read in articles and interviews that Lyle was commissioned to write "several" pieces of that kind, but I had difficulties even to find the flute/harp/viola trio that I mentioned above. Perhaps that's just because even if some of those pieces were recorded, the records aren't under "Lyle Mays" name, as they will contain music from different composers...

But as I said, it doesn't matter for this purpose whether they were recorded or not.

Of course, any help will be appreciated. Thank you! And speaking of which...

 

 

I posted a question about whether any of Lyle's contemporary classical work was included. Will report if I get a response.

Thanks, Silver!!

[JB Sherry]

Marimba solo called Mindwalk

Piece for Marimolin called Somewhere In Maine

Street Dreams 3 - is that English Horn?

 

I found these mentioned in the Wikipedia article about Mays.

[jazzpiano88]

Guys, thanks, but - this whole thesis is much, much broader than the couple of subjects which I asked about. There was no space, time, or purpose, to describe it all. Keith Jarrett's classical compositions, for example, are already covered in abundance, and even Chick Corea and Lyle Mays are already in there, ......

 

If Chick and Lyle are already in there, what exactly are you asking for?

 

This gist of your request is that your student isn't finding anything more about Lyle than you are, and you're interpreting this as your student ignoring your instruction because you're relying on a memory that much more is out there.

Do I have this right?

[marino]

If Chick and Lyle are already in there, what exactly are you asking for?

 

This gist of your request is that your student isn't finding anything more about Lyle than you are, and you're interpreting this as your student ignoring your instruction because you're relying on a memory that much more is out there.

Do I have this right?

 

No, it's actually much simpler than this.

 

This guy it's a talented musician, who after six years spent in the school, is about to finally take his degree. We chose the subject of his thesis together: The relationship(s) between jazz and classical music. I made a *ton* of suggestions for musicians and pieces from various eras, and he did his best to delve into each one as deeply as possible, plus general considerations on the whole matter. This took a few months, during which I followed his progresses regularly, and he generally did a great job digging out material. He learned a lot in the process, and I, too, stumbled into unknown details from time to time. It was a big task for him, considering that he was preparing his final concert at the same time.

 

The only little details which were left unexplored from my initial avalanche of suggestions, were the two that I asked about here.

- He reported that he couldn't find info on the elusive "Quintet" by Chick Corea (I had warned him in advance that my memory could be tricking me about the title); Chick's Concerto, trio piece, and other stuff was already covered at that point. I tried to help him, but of course, with the same non-results - until Mr. Moj resolved it for us.

- As I wrote in the first post, I was surprised to realize that there wasn't more chamber music by Lyle Mays around, given that for years I heard that he wrote some such pieces. Speaking of which...

 

Marimba solo called Mindwalk

Piece for Marimolin called Somewhere In Maine

 

Thanks! This helps a *whole lot*. I have sent your links to my student.

 

I found these mentioned in the Wikipedia article about Mays.

Sigh... probably, we didn't give enough importance to the English language page about Lyle. These pieces aren't mentioned on the page in Italian - nor on Lyle's site, or any other site that we could find.

 

Btw, probably he can now put the final touches on this big endeavor. He has to play his degree concert on next Thursday, and discuss his thesis on July 14. It's an 80-page thing, probably worth of publication with some refinement, and as I wrote on the first post of this thread, the info I asked about here belongs to the final, and shorter, chapter.

 

In case someone is interested, the four chapters are:

 

- Jazz pieces influenced by, or based on, classical pieces

- Classical music influenced by jazz

- Soloists who are/were active in both fields

- Classical-type music written by jazz musicians

 

As always, a BIG thank to everyone who tried to help with constructive suggestions. KC rules!!

[moj]

"until Mr. Moj resolved it for us."

Thanks, glad I could help you find the right CC recording.