American jazz composer, keyboardist, bandleader and occasional percussionist whose compositions “Spain”, “500 Miles High”, “La Fiesta”, “Armando’s Rhumba” and “Windows” are jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis’s band in the late 1960s, he participated in the birth of jazz fusion. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever. Along with Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans, he is considered one of the foremost jazz pianists of the post-John Coltrane era.
He was playing piano by age four. His parents filled their home with the music of jazz greats and the classics, and Corea was infused with great music from childhood. In 1964, he had his first professional stint with trumpeter Blue Mitchell, a partnership which lasted until 1966. He spent a year accompanying Sarah Vaughan and subsequently joined Miles Davis’ band playing electric piano. After that he formed his own avant-garde improv group named Circle, but in 1971, after three years of the group, he changed his focus to a softer, samba-flavored sound. In the mid ’80s he formed the Elektric Band. In 1992, he formed a recording company called Stretch Records, a label named for its commitment to stretching musical boundaries. In 1996, Stretch Records became a subsidiary of Concord Records, and Corea recorded much of his later music on this label.
He won his first Grammy award in 1975, followed by Grammy Awards in 1976, two in 1978, another in 1979 and 1981. In 1977, his Latin-element album, My Spanish Heart, sold 170,000 copies, an unprecedented number at that time for a jazz recording. His music developed from jazz to jazz-rock to fusion and he played with many jazz greats including Herbie Hancock.
His release The Ultimate Adventure earned him a 2007 Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album and his Three Ghouls took the Best Instrumental Arrangement award.
Corea met his second wife Gayle Moran in the ’70s when she began her musical collaboration with him. He had two children, Thaddeus and Liana, with his first wife. He died from cancer on 9 February 2021 at age 79 in Tampa Bay, Florida.
Link to Wikipedia biography