Trilogy

This is a triple-length live effort (with material culled from various shows during 2010 and 2012 tours) with bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade; it will likely be remembered as a particularly virtuosic and hard-swinging acoustic combo from Chick Corea. McBride proves to be an anchor with his solid sense of rhythm and robust solos (“Recorda Me,” “Blue Monk”) as Blade circles the beat (“Fingerprints,” “This Is New”) but rarely solos. Corea himself sounds particularly inspired here, even when he digs into his iconic “Spain” (recorded in Spain with special guests Jorge Pardo on guitar and Nino Josele on flute). He turns to classical for Alexander Scriabin’s “Op. 11, No. 9” and also shares his lengthy but unfinished “Piano Sonata: The Moon.” The set is rounded out by some standards, with expansive takes on “How Deep the Ocean?” and “My Foolish Heart” standing out. Despite the pianist’s ongoing deluge of music, one will be hard-pressed to find a recent acoustic jazz trio effort of better quality from him or anyone else.