Chick Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was one of the most popular musicians of the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries. His work with Miles Davis at the end of the 1960s and with his own Return to Forever earned him great international acclaim.  His prolific recording career produced very highly regarded works in the free jazz and fusion genres. 

However, to my ears, the pre-fusion Corea remains unsurpassed by his subsequent work. It was not until his return to acoustic Jazz in the early 1980s that I reconnected with him. Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, his 1968 recording on Solid State Records, is an excellent example of Corea’s straight-ahead Jazz that is at par with the best from that decade. It is an acoustic piano trio, with Miroslav Vitous (bass) and Roy Haynes (drums). The 2019 vinyl LP reissue of this record by Blue Note, as part of its Tone Poet Series, is my kind of music. Very highly recommended.