It hasn’t even been a month since jazz fusion pioneer Chick Corea sold out the cabaret theater at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall two nights in a row. He clearly enjoyed himself, because he’s planned another venture out to Tampa Bay, this time with some very old friends of his.
Last week, reps at the Mahaffey Theater—located at 400 1st St. S, right across from the Dalé Museum—announced that Chick Corea will be reuniting with his Akoustic Band for a Dec. 15 performance. The 79-year old pianist and composer established the trio with bass extraordinaire John Patitucci and Paul Simon’s Hearts And Bones-era drummer Dave Weckl nearly 35 years ago. Their eponymous 1989 album won a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.
The three of them last convened in the Bay area in January 2018 for two shows at St. Pete College, and last month Corea told CL he was bringing Patitucci and Weckl back into town for rehearsals on a separate concerto and this show which was not yet booked at the time.
“When Dave and John come down to rehearse my new concerto for the trio, we're going to do more stuff and maybe, hopefully, in December, perform some more in the area—if any promoters are willing,” Corea said, adding that the SPC gigs ended up on a forthcoming album called The Acoustic Trio Live, which Corea said is set "for an official release, I think, I don't know, before Christmas or after Christmas—definitely.”
Tickets for the Dec. 15 Akoustic band gig have already gone on sale at themahaffey.com ($47.50-$125), but they are only being sold in pairs, with every other row of the house being blocked off for safety purposes. Masks are required inside the venue at all times. That is, unless Chick calls you up onstage to involve you in his “Portraits” segment of the show, in which he musically imitates four people.
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