Chick Corea and Gary Burton grace the world with yet another timeless classic, Hot House, for music lovers far and near. Out Sept. 4 from Concord Music Group
Review by Ian Williams
Old school… Anew! Chick Corea and Gary Burton grace the world with yet another timeless classic for music lovers far and near. Their new collaborative album, entitled Hot House raises the bar to an almost an unattainable level for other musicians to even fathom. Musical euphoria or, better yet, an “eargasm” best describes this masterpiece.
Corea doesn’t just tickle the ivories on this album, he seduces them. Burton “chimes” in on this album with his eclectic vibraphone sounds that are soothing enough to calm a great white shark in the midst of a feeding frenzy. The duo has a chemistry that is greater than a match made in heaven.
With four decades of musical bliss gracing our ears, Hot House does nothing but add flair and flame to the life of jazz music. The amazing duo cover songs by some of the biggest names in music (other than themselves) such as Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, Art Tatum, Tadd Dameron, Paul McCartney and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Track three, “Chega De Saudade” (translated, “No More Blues” by Jobim), is a song for calming the soul and spirit. Burton not only takes the lead on this track, he takes one on a floating journey down the Pacific Coast Highway with the top down in a vintage convertible on a beautiful cloudless day. However, once the journey is complete, “Light Blue” (Monk) carries you from the California coast into the heart of New Orleans where rainy days and jazz music are synonymous with relaxation, serenity and good times. “Light Blue” has been covered by other artists yet Corea and Burton own it on this album.
The title track Hot House (Dameron) may be the shortest track on the album but it is nothing short of a powerhouse in its own right. Corea leads and Burton mirrors him in harmonious tandem (as if there is any other). Nonetheless, if an individual considers himself or herself a connoisseur of jazz music then this album should already have a reserved spot on the top shelf to only be handled with white gloves. Corea and Burton deliver with Hot House, point blank. Period.
