CAP UCLA Presents Chick Corea Trilogy with Christian McBride & Brian Blade

UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) presents Chick Corea Trilogy with Christian McBride & Brian Blade on Thursday, Oct. 3, at 8 p.m. at Royce Hall. Tickets for $29-$99 are available now at cap.ucla.edu, 310-825-2101 and the Royce Hall box office.

Music icon Chick Corea has been at the forefront of jazz both as a piano performer and composer. The fourth-most-nominated artist in the history of the Grammys, Corea is the perfect blend of a favorite jazz club and a weekend concert. Together with Christian McBride on bass and Brian Blade on drums, Trilogy, a marvel of a triple-CD set, was recorded live in 2014.

"Both are master musicians and together we have an easy rapport. There is a lot of give and take in our music. It's always a lot of fun," said Chick Corea about his trio partners McBride and Blade.

Previously the rhythmic backbone in Corea's Five Peace Band, McBride and Blade are both stars in their own right. A triple threat of jazz, Trilogy is spectacularly virtuosic and a recording that ranks with the landmarks of Chick's career. AllMusic exclaimed the "ever mischievous [Corea] created a context where the music-centered on high-spirited playfulness: pushed and pulled, twisted and turned, and obliquely refracted."

A fellow Grammy winner, Christian McBride is always of the music. From jazz to R&B to hip-hop, McBride has collaborated with many, including CAP alumni Pat Metheny. The third of the trio, Brian Blade, is also a jazz veteran and well-respected musician. Blade's collaborators include CAP alumni Emmylou Harris.

The trio's long-awaited follow-up album, Trilogy 2, arrives this fall on Concord Records. The two-disc set features tracks hand-picked by Chick from throughout the trio's 2016 world tour, capturing the feel of an electrifying concert program. The material spans a range of inspirations, from American Songbook standards to jazz classics, reaching back into Chick own catalog as well as that of some of his most renowned collaborators, including Miles Davis and Joe Henderson.

Funds for Chick Corea Trilogy were provided by the Henry Mancini Tribute Fund.

CAP UCLA's Jazz series continues with Joshua Redman Quartet and The Bad Plus (Nov 10, Royce Hall), DeJohnette/Coltrane/Garrison (Dec 7, Royce Hall), Gregory Porter (Feb 7, Royce Hall), and Fly Higher: Charlie Parker at 100 (Mar 26, Royce Hall).

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