There were many dimensions to Armando “Chick” Corea’s artistry up until his death in early 2021 at 79. First and foremost, he was a pillar of modern jazz piano alongside McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, and Keith Jarrett. His improvisational language was entirely his own, though proudly descended from Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, and other forebears. He was equally forceful and inventive whether dissecting standard tunes in an acoustic trio or redefining the expressive potential of electric keyboards with Miles Davis on Bitches Brew, as well as his own fusion projects—most famously Return to Forever and the Chick Corea Elektric Band. He played solo, he played duo (with Hancock, Gary Burton, Béla Fleck, and more), he played quartet with Anthony Braxton and the late Michael Brecker, he followed his muse from the avant-garde to flamenco to classical composition and many other modalities. And he was a composer of timeless jazz classics, among them “Spain,” “Windows,” “500 Miles High,” “Tones for Joan’s Bones,” “Crystal Silence,” “Bud Powell,” and “Mirror, Mirror.” As Wynton Marsalis wrote in a tribute, “He was one of a kind. Master, student, teacher, fan, advocate and lifelong leading citizen in the world of music.”