Album review: Chick Corea, "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs"

Let me begin by saying that of all the leading Miles Davis alumni, Chick Corea is among my favourites. Although I tend to consider him a bit mechanical at times, I find him very soulful, and, unlike the man he replaced with Miles, not as commercial. And, this album is a a great example to understand his greatness. If Chick Corea never made any music after this album, by virtue of "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs" alone, his position among jazz's pantheon of greats is assured.

Widely regarded as Corea's finest album, and among the finest creations by a piano trio, "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs" blows your mind. What stands out for me most is the song-writing - mellow and poised, yet having the insightful musings of a hard bop creation. 11 of the 13 tunes are composed by Chick, 1 by Thelonius Monk (a dull version of "Pannonica") and only 1 is a standard - a pretty strong statement for Corea, the writer.

This is undoubtedly one of the best piano trios ever, with Corea, brilliant Czech bassist Miroslav Vitous and the veteran master drummer Roy Haynes, and they are smoking! This strong rhythm session enables Chick to stretch out and play his heart out like never before. He moves between tightly structured pieces and more free oriented ones, playing solos and improvising superbly. Reminds me of some of the works of the Bill Evans trio with Scott LaFaro.

This album, thanks to the CD, gives that feeling of bonus. Not only has Blue Note preserved the track order (tracks 1-5, with approximately 40 minutes of playing time comprise the original LP), they have thrown in eight bonus tracks for good measure, and the 24-bit remastering renders the performances crystal clear. These 8 are from the same session, and was released separately as the double LP "Circling In", so you get the same feel and continuity throughout the 13 tracks. Yummy!

At almost 14 minutes, "Steps-What Was," the first track, sets off the album with a long piece, but the trio manages to ensure that the listener never becomes bored. This is quite a track - Corea is at once introspective with some solo musings that remind of his, Horace Silver, while still managing to float and swirl with the light touch of Bill Evans. 

This piece is like a two-part diptych, and “Steps” works up a small frenzy for a while, then a drum solo from Roy leads into the beautiful “What Was”, a fast, bittersweet dance with a Spanish feel. In a way, this song, to me is like a cross-over piece - it rests somewhere between what had been done by post-bop innovators and what was being done by free jazz artists at the time it was recorded. I was recently listening to Ornette Coleman's works, trying to understand Free Jazz as it happened and played, and some parts seemed like that. For instance, Roy Haynes' drum solo seemingly moves orthogonally to the main piece, suggesting a free jazz movement that would have made Coleman nod in approval. 

Soon after, the trio comes back in, and Corea starts to explore a modal progression that would become the hallmark of much of  his subsequent music, be it acoustic or heavily electric. Considering he's only 26 here, it has been argued that the blueprint for everything Corea would choose to explore in his lengthy career was suggested right here, in this album. Considering the sheer range of the stuff the man's done in his career, that sets this album apart.

Two of the tracks, "Matrix" and "Windows" are today considered to be contemporary standards, but the other works on the album are much less fleshed out, feel more raw, relying on a great deal of improvisation between the trio members. “Matrix” uses the 12-bar form (the theme is a happy blues, the stuff I'm more used to) as the basis for some innovative piano and bass solos. One of my favorite parts during "Matrix" is when Vitous takes a bass solo, throwing in some awesome bass improvizations. Its as solo as solos get - the others keep completely mum! Elsewhere, Miroslav and Roy present a tight background for Chick to take solo flight over and over again from bop numbers to ballads (like "My One And Only Love" at the end).

The title track, in my opinion, is the finest thing Corea ever wrote. Period. Its a happy confluence of forms - part march, part Spanish swing, with lots of stirring chord changes and a very clever coda. The solos on this piece are breathtaking! “Now He Beats the Drum” starts with a lovely piano introduction and turns into the most standard sounding tune, albeit with some novel chord movements throughout. Completing the original program is the fascinating little “Law of Falling and Catching Up”, a very interesting mix of a free sequence of notes, knocks, and isolated snare rolls. 

Once the original set gets done, we get the several bonus tracks that go off in various directions. The springloaded, upside-down groove of “Samba Yantra” is a highlight, originally recorded on a Donald Byrd session, and is an excellent composition with plenty of rhythmic exploration. “Bossa” drifts into muted shock-waves that recalls Bill Evans. Chick’s solo ruminations in “Gemini” are full of a profound beauty - a thoughtful piano improvisation followed by a bass improvisation. I love this piece. Two of the following tracks, “I Don’t Know” and “Fragments” take abstract paths, enhancing the sense of searching and flowing. 

Then there are the other two tracks, the Robert Mellin - Guy Wood standard “My One and Only Love” and Monk’s “Pannonica”. Here, the tone changes from the rest of the album, yet they both reinforce the trio’s swinging chemistry. I am not really impressed by this version of Thelonious Monk's "Pannonica", as I find it somewhat dull (in comparison?), yet it demonstrates Corea's mastery of bop and post-bop forms. His voice, irrespective of the style, is clear. The album concludes with a beautiful rendition of "My One and Only Love", and is done with supreme love and deftness by the trio, working in tandem.

I am very impressed by the rhythm section, which complements the young master, and completes and competes in the performances, in every step. I particularly like the playing of Vitous - for his feel for the music, knowing exactly which turn to take and where, and providing lovely runs up to those points, before taking off. (Corea's better know bass partner Stanley Clarke may have been faster at this, but couldn't have matched the amazing delicacy of Vitous' playing).  

As for Haynes, the man is equally adept on these challenging pieces, mesmerizing the listener with intricate and nuanced playing. Without being excessively flamboyant or overwhelming,  Roy's playing remains tied to what the piano and bass are doing, making the overall sound that much richer. 

This album is a towering performance, way ahead of its time. There is so much rich content and packed-in-tight class, that I find this album singularly awe-inspiring! I mean - Corea is only 26! Just the intro alone to “Steps” has more harmonic suggestion than could be found on entire albums! Corea himself would reference the flavours of "Now He Sings" in many of his subsequent albums, including other partnerships with Haynes and Vitous, but I doubt he ever reached the same levels of music.

A couple of interesting facts: Downbeat magazine awarded the original LP ZERO stars when it was released in 1968. Not zero stars for poor quality, just zero stars as the reviewer refused to rate it because he admittedly didn't get it. It was that far ahead of its time. And then, in 1999, the single "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs" was given the Grammy 'Hall of Fame' Award. The world had grown up...