Chick Corea has passed away from cancer at age 79.
Back in October 2018, when I was at the very beginning of my jazz piano journey (I had bought a cheap 44-key Casio and was learning scales and starting to read Ted Gioia’s The History of Jazz), I gave myself an impromptu birthday present of a ticket to see Chick Corea’s trio perform at SFJAZZ in San Francisco. It was one of those transformational musical experiences for me – so much that was cloudy in my head about jazz and jazz piano suddenly became crystal clear, and it was at that point I decided to commit to getting myself a true digital piano and dedicate myself to learning jazz. I was planning to see him again at SFJAZZ last summer before COVID hit and wiped out that chance, and now there’ll never be another. He was an inspiration.