Chick Corea and Gary Burton

The history of jazz is filled with famous partnerships: Miles Davis and John Coltrane, Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan; the list goes on. But surely one of the longest-lasting and most productive partnerships in jazz has been between pianist Chick Corea and vibraphonist Gary Burton.

Corea and Burton began playing together nearly 40 years ago and cemented their early partnership with the recording Crystal Silence in 1972. The album combined each musician's virtuosity with a responsive interaction to one another's playing, opening new possibilities for jazz duos, as Burton had earlier broken into new frontiers on the vibraphone.

In 2008, after decades of touring and recording together, Corea and Burton updated their classic with The New Crystal Silence, a live double album that ensures their legacy for a new generation. But Burton tells The Prague Post that one of the most inimitable duos in jazz was more the result of chance than design.

"When we made our first record 38 years ago, we had no idea we would continue playing together, and even as the years passed, we sort of just continued from year to year. If it continued to be interesting and fun to play together, then we kept taking concerts, and every now and then would get an idea for a record project," he says.

"After 20 years or so, I began to wonder when we would get bored with it and run out of steam. But before long, it had been 30 years and counting. So, I finally accepted that we probably will continue doing this until we fall over on the stage."

Burton is a vibraphone pioneer and the developer of the "Burton grip," whereby the musician holds four mallets rather than the usual two, allowing him to play chords as well as melodies. This level of complexity has become Burton's signature style.

Corea began playing piano with Cab Calloway in the early 1960s before going on to pioneer the use of electric piano in jazz while playing with Miles Davis during his Bitches Brew period. Many of Corea's original compositions have now become jazz standards.

Corea and Burton are unusual not just for the sheer longevity of their collaboration, but for the very nature of it. Vibraphone and piano are very similar instruments in terms of tone and range, and the fact that Corea and Burton don't perform with a rhythm section makes the duo's music airy, nearly ethereal, and opens up possibilities in the middle range. At the same time, it means that each performer must be in the pocket of the groove at all times - not always an easy task, considering the serpentine rhythms of Corea compositions like "Rhumbata."

Burton says that "keeping the time feel and flow of rhythm clear in our playing" is the main responsibility he and Corea share when performing.

"We do play differently without a rhythm section. It's similar to a two-piano duet, which is not all that uncommon in classical music. The difference, of course, is that the vibes and piano, while sort of similar in sound, are nonetheless distinguishable to the ear as different instruments. But we think a lot alike as fellow keyboard players, which contributes to our rapport," he says.

Keeping up a collaboration over three decades is no small feat, and Corea and Burton's persistence has made them perhaps the most beloved collaboration in contemporary jazz. As if the inevitable creative differences and side projects weren't enough to distract them, the very idea of playing tunes like Corea's classic "Senor Mouse," which is featured on both Crystal Silence and The New Crystal Silence, for so many years would seem to breed contempt. Burton says it's important to "freshen up" some songs, but that others have a longer life.

"Sometimes, it doesn't take much of a change to freshen up a song you've played for years. A change of tempo, a different rhythm feel, a new introduction or interlude section. Some songs are fun to play for a while but become uninteresting after a while. Others have the right qualities to appear to be endlessly interesting for improvisation, and we continue playing them for decades," he says.

On their European tour, Corea and Burton will be performing songs from their significant repertoire, which features original compositions as well as pieces from composers like Thelonius Monk and Duke Ellington. In addition, Burton says they will be performing music he and Corea are preparing for a new album, which Burton promises will have 10 new songs.

"After a half-dozen or so records featuring mainly Chick's compositions, we decided to do one of standards by famous composers. The pieces aren't always songs everyone will recognize instantly, but we have very interesting pieces by Jobim, Brubeck, Paul McCartney, Kurt Weill, Art Tatum, Monk, Dizzy and others," he says.

Such legendary musicians form a lineup worthy of this enduring jazz duo.

Stephan Delbos can be reached at
sdelbos@praguepost.com