Chick Corea & Gary Burton
Live @ Wiener Konzerthaus, 2 aprile 2008, Vienna

THE REVIEW

For the Viennese series "The Art Of Jazz Piano", the seasoned duo of Gary Burton and Chick Corea performed in the majestic Konzerthaus.

Chick Corea is a majestic pianist of international fame, present on the scene for forty years. Burton is probably the most famous vibraphonist around, himself with an incredible portfolio of experiences. It is difficult to exactly define who of the two played the role of leader in this elegant evening of delightful jazz.

However, Corea took the microphone and joked with the audience. He recounted anecdotes, revealing the randomness of his meeting with Burton, dating back to 1986, and their fruitful collaboration that has so far produced several works.

After a respectful dedication to Joe Zawinul, the two launched into the musical proposal of the opening track of their latest album "The New Crystal Silence".

The two blended splendidly and alternated tributes to Charlie Parker, Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, and even experimented with a rearrangement of a couple of lesser-known classical pieces. Deep, elegant, able to export a brilliant and wise music, they entertained the audience for a couple of hours.

Thunderous applause led to an encore and a second encore, and curiously, Chick began to play the vibraphone, showing he could handle it, and duetted with Gary.

If Chick demonstrated a more playful character and an impressive sense of music, Gary acted as a shy, discreet, and smiling support, always with his sheet music at hand, to create a chasm between him and the possibility of making imperfections. Chick played spontaneously, without sheet music, creating rhythms by snapping his fingers, clapping his hands, caressing the strings of his long grand piano, distorting the sounds he produced with his other hand, creating vibrant and dark acoustics. Things never seen before.

Finally, few people found themselves waiting for the duo to shake hands or ask for an autograph. The staff kept everyone at a distance, the two did not make themselves available, but I handed three CDs and a blue marker to a collaborator, asking him to do his best. After a few minutes, under the envy of a few hopeful and unsatisfied fans, I saw all three signed CDs returned to me.