Comparison of Choro Music and the Music of Chick Corea

Presentation by: Sean Conrad

Demographics of Rio de Janeiro

Country: Brazil Population : 6.3 Million Life Expectancy: 73 6% unemployed, 88.6% literate Religion: Roman Catholic (nominal) 73.6%, Protestant

15.4%, Spiritualist 1.3%, Bantu/voodoo 0.3%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.2%, none 7.4%

Languages: : Portuguese; less common languages include Spanish (border areas and schools), German, Italian, Japanese, English, and a large number of minor Amerindian languages

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro History

The city of Rio de Janeiro proper was founded by the Portuguese on March 1, 1565 and was named São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro

In 1819, a large influx of African slaves arrived Rio de Janeiro, totaling 220,000 by 1840

Rio continued as the capital of Brazil after 1889, when the monarchy was replaced by a republic

Between 1960 and 1975 Rio was a city-state under the name State of Guanabara

Rio De Janeiro Culture

People of Portuguese ancestry predominate in most of the state Rio brings together the main production centers of Brazilian

television The National Library of Brazil ranks as the eighth largest

library in the world. It is also the largest library in all of Latin America

Music and dancing are obviously popular in Brazil Choro’s origins are in 19th century Rio de Janeiro The Choro genre resulted in the creation of samba, bossa nova

and many other musical genres. Rio has become a tourist hot spot, During Carnaval, which

begins the Friday before Ash Wednesday, it is a huge party

Language & Music

Rio was popularized by the hit song "Garota de Ipanema The music of Brazil encompasses various

regional music styles influenced by African, European Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles

such as samba, choro, bossa nova, funk carioca, RAP, tropicalia, axé, brega, and others 

 Instrumental music is also largely practiced in Brazil, with styles ranging from classical to popular and jazz influenced forms

The Portuguese language is the official and national language, and thus the primary language taught in schools.

Choro Instruments

Originally choro was played by a trio of flute, guitar and cavaquinho 

Other instruments commonly played in choro are the mandolin, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, and trombone.

rhythm section consists of guitar, 7-string guitar(playing bass lines) and light percussion, such as a pandeiro.

Choro Instruments

Tico Tico No Fuba

Recorded on The album entitled “Choro Democratico ”

Song Introduction

 the Choro style often has a fast and happy rhythm, characterized by virtuosity, improvisation, subtile modulations and full of syncopation and counterpoint

Notice the Harmonies between the flute and the guitar

The drums are simple and repetitive The melody is repetitive

Listen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r54Gqaxe3nU

Chick Corea

Chick Corea Background

Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (born June 12, 1941)  is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.

Corea was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He is of Sicilian and Spanish descent His father, a jazz trumpet player who had led a Dixieland band

in the Boston area in the 1930s and 1940s, introduced him to the piano at the age of four

A notable influence was concert pianist Salvatore Sullo from whom Corea started taking lessons at age eight and who introduced him to classical music, helping spark his interest in musical composition

a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement

Chick Corea’s Music

Corea started his professional career in the 1960s playing with trumpeter Blue Mitchell and Latin greats such as Herbie Mann, Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaría

From 1968 to 1971 Corea had associations with avant garde players and his solo style revealed a dissonant, avant garde orientation. His avant garde playing can be heard on his solo works of the period, his solos in live recordings under the leadership of Miles Davis

In the early 1970s Corea took a profound stylistic turn from avant garde playing to a crossover jazz fusion style that incorporated Latin jazz elements.

He founded Return to Forever in 1971. This band had a fusion sound and even though it relied on electronic instrumentation it drew more on Brazilian and Spanish-American musical styles than on rock music

Corea's composition "Spain" first appeared on the 1972 Return to Forever album Light as a Feather. This was his most popular piece.

Corea’s Influences

Growing up surrounded by jazz music, he was influenced at an early age by bebop and stars such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Horace Silver, and Lester Young.

At eight Corea also took up drums, which would later influence his use of the piano as a percussion instrument.

concert pianist Salvatore Sullo spent several years as a performer and soloist for the

Knights of St. Rose, a drum and bugle corps based in Chelsea.

Chick Corea’s Spain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOFs40ekTV0

1:35-1:43

Music Theory

Chord Progression: |GM7| |F#7| |Em7| |A7| |DM7| |GM7| |C#7| |F#7| |Bm| |B7|

In the Key of D Major; 2 Sharps Tempo: 144 Time Signature: Cut Time http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsBsq0Qe

eus

This Excerpt focuses on the syncopated rhythms as well as the harmonies between the bass and treble.

This Excerpt focuses on the syncopated rhythms as well as the harmonies between the bass and treble.

Music Excerpt

0:00-1:21; there is a long slow drawn out piano intro, contrasts the fast paced accented rhythms ahead

Very Technical… Diminished Scale over F#7, then A Major Penatonic Scale.

Comparison

Both selections of music contain: repetitive rhythms syncopation Harmonies Allegro tempos Happy Rhythms Latin Roots

Contrast

Choro music has a simple drum beat with limited percussion

Chick Corea has an extensive rhythm section Spain contains vocals as well as piano solos Solos throughout “Spain” In “Tico Tico No Fuba ” the soloist sticks more

to the main melody, but makes changes in the solo rhythmic division and even introduces ornaments, such as trills, mordents, glissandos and flutter-tonguings

Bottom Line

While the music of Chick Corea and Rio De Janeiro come from different backgrounds and utilize different instruments, both embrace their cultures and provide new music which led to different avenues of music making.

Works Cited

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"Brazil." The World Bank. The World Bank Group, n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2012. <http://data.worldbank.org/>.

"The Choro Fake Book." Music Is Healing. BSH Enterprises, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2013. <http://musicishealing.com/>.

Chinen, Nate (August 3, 2008). "The Return of Return to Forever". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2010.

"Health Inequalities in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2013. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21233437>.

Heckman, Don (August 18, 2001). "Playing in His Key". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 7, 2011.

""Spain" Chick Corea, Return to Forever." People.Virginia.EDU. University of Virginia, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2013. <http://people.virginia.edu/>.

"What Is Choro Music?" Saint Paul Sunday. American Public Media, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://saintpaulsunday.publicradio.org>.

Yanow, Scott (June 12, 1941). "Chick Corea". AllMusic. Retrieved July 1, 2011.