Blue Chamber Quartet - Chick Corea Children's Songs (2009) [SACD]

They should be simple and beautiful – that’s what Chick Corea wrote about his 20 Children’s Songs; the reason being that just this very simplicity and beauty of children‘s minds was what he wanted to express in his musical miniatures.

It was in the early seventies when jazz piano virtuoso and composer Chick Corea started to work on those precious pieces and it took as long as 1984 for the Children’s Songs to be published. Later Chick Corea commented on his work that each melody was singular and it was for everybody to receive these beautiful little works of art, try them and appreciate them.

It was with joy that Blue Chamber Quartet did like Chick Corea told us. They were fascinated by these poetic musical microcosms Chick Corea has created. It was only two years they needed to make their vision reality and record all of the Children’s Songs and have Thomas Schindl transform the arrangements in the artistic concept of Blue Chamber Quartet. Again music “that deliberately blurred distinctions between classical and jazz.”

This recording was accompanied by the thought of adding words to the music in order to let the children – whose imaginary voices are to be heard here – are also able to tell their stories. Journalist Cathrin Kahlweit therefore has created 20 short texts for the 20 songs. 20 times the clock moves forward, 20 times the view goes to another country and 20 times the view focuses for one moment on a child with all its happiness, fear, hopes and worries.