Spain (instrumental)

Spain is an instrumental jazz fusion composition by jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea. It is likely Corea's most recognized piece, and is considered a jazz standard.[1]

Spain was composed in 1971 and appeared in its original (and most well-known) rendition on the album Light as a Feather, with performances by Corea (Rhodes electric piano), Airto Moreira (drums), Flora Purim (vocals and percussion), Stanley Clarke (bass), and Joe Farrell (flute). It has been recorded in several versions, by Corea himself as well as by other artists, including a flamenco version by Paco de Lucia, Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin in the 1980s, and a progressive bluegrass version by Bela Fleck in 1979. More recently, Corea has performed it as a duo with Japanese pianist Hiromi Uehara.

The Light as a Feather version of Spain received two Grammy nominations, for Best Instrumental Arrangement and for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Group. In 2001, Corea was awarded the Best Instrumental Arrangement Grammy for "Spain for Sextet and Orchestra".

Composition

Corea opens the Light as a Feather version of Spain with the adagio from Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. After the intro, the song switches to a fast, steady samba-like rhythm, in which the main theme and an improvisation part are repeated.

The chord progression used during the improvisation part is based on harmonic progressions in Rodrigo's concerto. It runs as follows:

 Gmaj7 F#7 Em7 A7 Dmaj7 (Gmaj7) C#7 F#7 Bm B7

In line with jazz philosophy, other interpretations of the song are structured differently and some might only retain the main theme or parts of it. In the Paco de Lucia and John McLaughlin version some chords are altered in parts, including the F#7 to F#7b9 or F#7aug and C#7 to C#7#9.

Appearances

Various covers by other artists, including:

References

  1. ↑ "Chick Corea". Blue Note. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
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