Chick Corea - Piano, Producer
Béla Fleck - Banjo, Producer
Bernie Kirsh - Engineer, Mixing
Bernie Grundman - Mastering
Buck Snow - Assistant Engineer
Bernard Alexander - Piano Tuner
Brian Alexander - Piano Technician
Marc Bessant - Design
Jay Blakesberg - Photography
C. Taylor Crothers - Photography
Evelyn Brechtlein - Project Coordinator
Sarah Jane Coleman - Lettering
Julie Rooney - Graphic Consultant
The pairing of post-bop icon Chick Corea with nu-grass banjo wizard
Bela Fleck makes perfect sense. Both are consummate musicians dedicated
to the ideal of fusing disparate styles into a protean form that knows
no bounds, and creating an ever-shifting music whose only criterion is
the beauty of artistic expression. THE ENCHANTMENT (2007), an album of
dialogues between Corea's piano and Fleck's banjo, adheres to the
musical standards of both artists. Spare yet complex, beautiful and
accessible yet challenging, THE ENCHANTMENT channels Latin
("Senorita"), classical ("A Strange Romance"), bluegrass ("Mountain"),
jazz ("Joban dna Nopia"), among other styles, into a seamless musical
whole.
Fans of legendary jazz pianist Chick Corea and bebop/bluegrass banjo
virtuoso Béla Fleck are well aware of the pair's previous
collaborations (Corea guests on two Flecktones albums, and Fleck
appears on Corea's Rendezvous in New York DVD), but their first
full-length release should surprise even their most jaded followers.
The two went into the project with intense seriousness of purpose,
Corea writing four pieces and Fleck six. (The standard "Brazil" is
their only cover.) They push each other hard in adapting their
instruments to genres (bluegrass, country, Latin, ragtime, classical,
blues, and world) normally outside their idioms, Corea playing 'grassy
banjo patterns on the piano on Fleck's mournful "Mountain" and Fleck
stretching on Corea's suite-like "Joban Dna Nopia." With few
exceptions, the compositions are only frameworks for vast
improvisation, which might be expected. But instead of setting each
other up for extended solos, Corea and Fleck join together with
breathtaking precision and verve, weaving and intertwining through
remarkable contrapuntal excursions, only to break and meet up again in
perfect sync. Despite the thrill of Fleck's chromatic chases and
classical flirtations and Corea's mastery of difficult lines on Fleck's
rippling "Spectacle," one can't help but think they would have
benefited from a tad more instrumentation--especially bass and
percussion. Perhaps that's the next step this wickedly inventive duo
wll take in their ongoing odyssey of genius.
Alanna Nash - Amazon.com
Aside from being legendary multiple Grammy-winning jazzmen on very
different instruments, Chick Corea (piano) and Béla Fleck (the
world's premier jazz banjo master) have a shared love for collaboration
and the infinite improvisational possibilities their chosen idiom
offers them. In some ways, the two have been preparing for this
masterful, musical dialogue-driven masterpiece for over ten years.
Fleck, who has always credited Corea as being one of his chief
influences, invited the pianist to play on the Flecktones'Tales from
the Acoustic Planet, as well as the group's live CD Live Art. Some
years later, in 2001, Corea found a spot for Fleck on his Rendezvous in
New York DVD. Later, they toured as a duo, making the unique recording
of The Enchantment an inevitable artistic extension of their on-stage
chemistry. One of the standout elements is the fact that, instead of
using their kinetic duality as a springboard for extended
one-instrument solo sections, their percussive lines weave and
intertwine beautifully throughout, like a mosaic determined to mine
uncharted territory. The opening track, Corea's "Señorita," is
lively, jumpy, and exotic, while Fleck's "Spectacle" blends his
country-plucking guitar with Corea's dramatic, stride-influenced
approach. This pattern follows throughout the disc, as the pianist's
compositions take on a spicy Latin flavor while the banjo man - on
excursions like the folksy "Mountain" and the classic waltz vibe of
"Waltse for Abby" - keeps the piano alongside him on the front porch.
They also ease into an interesting classical call-and-response mode on
Fleck's "A Strange Romance." The lone cover is a take on "Brazil" that
swirls Fleck's witty notes and Corea's shimmering ivory flow. Sounds
like the continuation of a beautiful friendship.
Jonathan Widran - All Music Guide
"Each tune contrasts stylistically with the one that preceded it, pointing to the talent and versatility of the pair..."