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Chick Corea was a god. I learned Spain on the bass in the hopes that one day I could play my meager rendition for him. In a concert at SFJazz he picked people

Chick Corea was a god. I learned Spain on the bass in the hopes that one day I could play my meager rendition for him. In a concert at SFJazz he picked people out of the audience to paint their portraits with his piano. How lucky was I to be placed upon such a seat where Chick dismembered me with his eyes, eviscerating my soul upon a platter. He stared at me with the eyes of a musician who had searched heaven and hell for the most tempestuous chordal mixtures. The two minutes I spent in that seat where he painted my portrait with his keystrokes are some of the most treasured moments of my life. I felt like I had been seen, chewed up, devoured, and reincarnated as the everloving Chick Corea sycophant I had always known myself to be. The man was a goddamn monster on the boards and we are all at a loss with his passing. Rest in Power Chick, you're in my heart forever.

Softcadbury 6y ago
Thanks for the story. Sorry, I know nothing about music, how do you paint someone's portrait with a piano? He was able to create a music based on a person?
- josh2600 6y ago
  Chick asked me to sit in a chair a couple feet away from his piano. He stared at me with the a look that seemed to say "whatever you've got, I'll work with it." If I had to imagine how I looked back at him in that moment it would've been the simulacrum of wanderlust and kummerspeck (German for grief bacon). It felt like I was being channeled by a ghost and the chords matched my facade like icing on a cake. Chick played the piano, all I could do was sit there and listen.
  - defen 6y ago
    That's a really powerful story, but also > kummerspeck (German for grief bacon) Raises more questions than it answers
    - rostigerpudel 6y ago
      When you start eating because you are sad, then, given enough time in this state, you will gain weight -> bacon from grief
      - wholinator2 6y ago
        It still didn't make sense to me so I googled it and found, "Kummerspeck is the name for excess fat gained by emotional eating – specifically, the excessive eating people do in times of stress or sorrow." So it literally refers to the _fat_ (speck) someone gains by eating while feeling _grief or sorrow_ (kummer). Except that the specific word for fat they use is the word for _animal fat_ and in some instances literally means bacon. What an interesting word. https://blogs.transparent.com/german/kummerspeck-frustfressen/ https://blogs.transparent.com/german/kummerspeck-frustfresse...
      - cameldrv 6y ago
        Speck is bacon and also (human) fat. Kummerspeck is the fat you get from feeling bad.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - donquichotte 6y ago
      It's certainly not a common word in German. In fact, this is the first time I've ever seen it, and all google search results are either dictionary entries or English articles that can be attributed to the Anglosphere's obsession with German compound words. Source: native speaker, reasonably literate
      - danielh 6y ago
        It is definitely colloquial and not a word you’d use everyday, but it is in Duden: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Kummerspeck https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Kummerspeck
  - harveywi 6y ago
    > Chick asked me to sit in a chair a couple feet away from his piano. He stared at me with the a look that seemed to say "whatever you've got, I'll work with it." If I had to imagine how I looked back at him in that moment it would've been the simulacrum of a mathematical model of computation that defines an abstract machine that manipulates symbols on a strip of tape according to a table of rules. It felt like I was being imitated, state by state, symbol by symbol, my inner-most thoughts understood but unspoken as my utterances were scribbled onto the infinite tape. > I was also a newly married man who had gained some weight. > As Chick tickled the ivories, he whispered, "I shall call the song of your life 'The Imitation Game'." > A moment later, he whispered my name. I do not recall me telling him my name. > "I wrote this for you, Benedict Kummerspeck," whispered Chick.
sharadov 6y ago
You've written a powerful eulogy and it sounds like music to my ears. Rest in Power Chick!
- PromoMass 6y ago
  The problem with you homo assholes is that you 1) won't ever get any pussy, because Chick Corea isn't exactly a pussy magnet topic, and, 2) you're homo-eroticising over a dead fucking jazz- faggot. Which means no pussy and no holes in any case. Chick Korea isn't exactly a sex subject. Better re-evaluate your objectives.
rongdongdong 6y ago
vore?
bromley 6y ago
For anyone else who, like me, is curious about these musical portraits, here's a video I found: https://youtu.be/iVsWELIJ96o https://youtu.be/iVsWELIJ96o
paradygm 6y ago
My first exposure to Chick was also through Spain, playing bass in high school. My friend and I decided we wanted to start a jazz band and found some charts for Spain, however it was a watered down arrangement with the rhythms...let's just say not as interesting as the original. Imagine my surprise when I finally heard the original recording. That is where I trace the beginning of my love for jazz and 30+ years later, he is still my biggest musical influence. I count my blessings I was able to see him perform many times in many different settings.
phreeza 6y ago
Isn't that 'thousand mile stare' often attributed to scientologists? Did this happen after his conversion?
- diggan 6y ago
  A "thousand-yard stare" would be devoid of life and emotion. What josh2600 is describing seems to be the opposite of that, a stare full of life, questions and answers.
- andrewzah 6y ago
  The 'thousand yard stare' comes from soldiers who have fought on the battlefield. It's a blank stare as the person's mind is elsewhere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand-yard_stare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand-yard_stare
epiphanitus 6y ago
If anybody is looking for something new to listen too, he made an album with John McLaughlin and 3 other jazz gods called Five Peace Band. One of my favorite albums of all time.

Softcadbury 6y ago

Thanks for the story. Sorry, I know nothing about music, how do you paint someone's portrait with a piano? He was able to create a music based on a person?

josh2600 6y ago
Chick asked me to sit in a chair a couple feet away from his piano. He stared at me with the a look that seemed to say "whatever you've got, I'll work with it." If I had to imagine how I looked back at him in that moment it would've been the simulacrum of wanderlust and kummerspeck (German for grief bacon). It felt like I was being channeled by a ghost and the chords matched my facade like icing on a cake. Chick played the piano, all I could do was sit there and listen.
- defen 6y ago
  That's a really powerful story, but also > kummerspeck (German for grief bacon) Raises more questions than it answers
  - rostigerpudel 6y ago
    When you start eating because you are sad, then, given enough time in this state, you will gain weight -> bacon from grief
    - wholinator2 6y ago
      It still didn't make sense to me so I googled it and found, "Kummerspeck is the name for excess fat gained by emotional eating – specifically, the excessive eating people do in times of stress or sorrow." So it literally refers to the _fat_ (speck) someone gains by eating while feeling _grief or sorrow_ (kummer). Except that the specific word for fat they use is the word for _animal fat_ and in some instances literally means bacon. What an interesting word. https://blogs.transparent.com/german/kummerspeck-frustfressen/ https://blogs.transparent.com/german/kummerspeck-frustfresse...
    - cameldrv 6y ago
      Speck is bacon and also (human) fat. Kummerspeck is the fat you get from feeling bad.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - donquichotte 6y ago
    It's certainly not a common word in German. In fact, this is the first time I've ever seen it, and all google search results are either dictionary entries or English articles that can be attributed to the Anglosphere's obsession with German compound words. Source: native speaker, reasonably literate
    - danielh 6y ago
      It is definitely colloquial and not a word you’d use everyday, but it is in Duden: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Kummerspeck https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Kummerspeck
- harveywi 6y ago
  > Chick asked me to sit in a chair a couple feet away from his piano. He stared at me with the a look that seemed to say "whatever you've got, I'll work with it." If I had to imagine how I looked back at him in that moment it would've been the simulacrum of a mathematical model of computation that defines an abstract machine that manipulates symbols on a strip of tape according to a table of rules. It felt like I was being imitated, state by state, symbol by symbol, my inner-most thoughts understood but unspoken as my utterances were scribbled onto the infinite tape. > I was also a newly married man who had gained some weight. > As Chick tickled the ivories, he whispered, "I shall call the song of your life 'The Imitation Game'." > A moment later, he whispered my name. I do not recall me telling him my name. > "I wrote this for you, Benedict Kummerspeck," whispered Chick.

sharadov 6y ago

You've written a powerful eulogy and it sounds like music to my ears. Rest in Power Chick!

PromoMass 6y ago
The problem with you homo assholes is that you 1) won't ever get any pussy, because Chick Corea isn't exactly a pussy magnet topic, and, 2) you're homo-eroticising over a dead fucking jazz- faggot. Which means no pussy and no holes in any case. Chick Korea isn't exactly a sex subject. Better re-evaluate your objectives.

rongdongdong 6y ago

vore?

bromley 6y ago

For anyone else who, like me, is curious about these musical portraits, here's a video I found: https://youtu.be/iVsWELIJ96o https://youtu.be/iVsWELIJ96o

paradygm 6y ago

My first exposure to Chick was also through Spain, playing bass in high school. My friend and I decided we wanted to start a jazz band and found some charts for Spain, however it was a watered down arrangement with the rhythms...let's just say not as interesting as the original. Imagine my surprise when I finally heard the original recording. That is where I trace the beginning of my love for jazz and 30+ years later, he is still my biggest musical influence. I count my blessings I was able to see him perform many times in many different settings.

phreeza 6y ago

Isn't that 'thousand mile stare' often attributed to scientologists? Did this happen after his conversion?

diggan 6y ago
A "thousand-yard stare" would be devoid of life and emotion. What josh2600 is describing seems to be the opposite of that, a stare full of life, questions and answers.
andrewzah 6y ago
The 'thousand yard stare' comes from soldiers who have fought on the battlefield. It's a blank stare as the person's mind is elsewhere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand-yard_stare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand-yard_stare

epiphanitus 6y ago

If anybody is looking for something new to listen too, he made an album with John McLaughlin and 3 other jazz gods called Five Peace Band. One of my favorite albums of all time.