Chick Corea: Song for Sally

When Herbie or Miles or Wayne jumped on the fusion bandwagon, they often confused their loyal fans, who struggled to connect Kind of Blue with On the Corner or make their way from "Dolphin Dance" to "Chameleon." But for Chick Corea, the chasm between his straight-ahead acoustic and crossover electric styles demanded less of a leap. Only the smallest nudge was necessary to go from (for example) Corea's work with Stan Getz to his Return to Forever efforts. This memorable ECM track is a case in point. Corea always wrote great melodies, whether he was playing for fusion fans or jazz purists. He always put that "Latin tinge" into his keyboard work. He solos are always smartly conceived and played with Corea's immediately recognizable touch at the instrument. Corea's biggest-selling releases from the era were made for the Polydor label, but the great ECM disks -- with the Circle ensemble, the collaborations with Gary Burton, the first Return to Forever LP, and two outstanding volumes of solo piano improvisations -- rank among his most cherished works. "Song for Sally" from the first volume of Piano Improvisations is one of my favorite tracks from this period.