Chick COREA


The Ultimate Adventure

(2006)



1. Three Ghouls
Part 1 1'38
Part 2 4'02
Part 3 3'11
2. City Of Brass 6'39
3. Queen Tedmur 5'15
4. El Stephen
Part 1 6'39
Part 2 1'47
5. King & Queen 6'07
6. Moseb The Executioner
Part 1 1'39
Part 2 2'20
Part 3 1'55
7. North Africa 6'24
8. Flight From Karoof
Part 1 6'12
Part 2 1'36
9. Planes Of Existence
Part 1 5'26
10. Arabian Nights
Part 1 4'31
Part 2 2'38
11. Gods & Devils 2'16
12. Planes Of Existence
Part 2 2'52

Total Time: 73:07


  • Chick Corea - Keyboards (1, 4, 9, 12), Piano (2-3, 5, 8, 10, 11), Rhodes (6-9, 12), Electronic Percussion (1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11), Palmas (1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12)
  • Frank Gambale - Acoustic Guitar (10)
  • Hubert Laws - Flute (1, 3)
  • Jorge Pardo - Flute (2, 4, 5, 7-9, 11, 12), Soprano Sax (8), Palmas (3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12)
  • Tim Garland - Tenor Sax (6), Bass Clarinet (3)
  • Carles Benavent - Bass (1-12), Palmas (1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12)
  • Steve Gadd - Drums (1, 4, 8), Palmas (1)
  • Vinnie Colaiuta - Drums (3, 6, 7, 10)
  • Tom Brechtlein - Drums (5, 9, 12), Palmas (5, 6)
  • Airto Moreira - Percussion (1, 6), Shaker and Bell (7), Voice
  • Rubem Dantas - Percussion (5, 9-12), Palmas (3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12), Cuica and Surdo (6), Pandero (Tambourine) (7)
  • Hossam Ramzy - Percussion (2, 8)

    Produced by Chick Corea
    Sound Design - Emanuele Ruffinengo
    Recorded by Bernie Kirsh
    Mixed by Al Schmitt & Buck Snow
    Assistant Engineer to Al Schmitt - Bill Smith
    Assistant Engineer - Jason Harris
    Mastered by Doug Sax,
    The MASTERING LAB, Los Angeles. California
    Assistant Engineer Admin - Jasmine Chang
    MAD HATTER STUDIO Manager - Chandra Benjamin
    Piano Tuner - Bernard Alexander
    Keyboard Technician - Brian Alexander
    Recording Manager - Bill Rooney
    Project Manager - Evelyn Brechtlein
    Production Manager - Julie Rooney
    Art & Design - Marc Bessant

    All Compositions Written by Chick Corea and Published by CRYSTAL SILENCE MUSIC / BMI

    Recorded and Mixed at MAD HATTER STUDIOS, Los Angeles, California

    www.chickcorea.com

    Inspiration

    After the fulfilling experience of writing and recording my last CD, To The Stars, inspired by a classic science fiction novel from my favorite author, L. Ron Hubbard, I began looking for another one of his stories-one that I could portray using my love for Spanish and African music and the talents of the musicians in my new band, TOUCHSTONE. Browsing through my collection, I was drawn to the title The Ultimate Adventure. Remembering that this unique fantasy story had a backdrop of scenes and characters from the ancient tales. The Arabian Nights, it immediately had me conjuring emotions, sounds, rhythms and music. Technically, I decided that my palette would be lots of rhythm, flute and, of course, keyboards. I also took this project as an opportunity to make music with some of my old friends who were so important to my music-making in the 60s and 70s-namely, Steve Gadd, Airto Moreira and Hubert Laws. And together with my more recent musical partnerships with Vinnie Colaiuta, Hossam Rarazy, Frank Gambale and Tim Garland, and finally the members of my current band, Tom Brechtlein, Jorge Pardo, Rubem Dantas and Carles Benavent-I was definitely inspired by these great artists in the creation of this music.

    Tone Poem

    As defined in my computer's dictionary: a "tone poem" is "an extended piece of music that is based on a literary, artistic or ideological theme, for example, a folk tale or landscape". This has become my favorite form of musical expression. As were The Leprechaun, The Mad Hatter, My Spanish Heart, Muskmagic, Secret Agent, The Romantic Warrior, Time Warp, To The Stars and many other albums I've made. The Ultimate Adventure is a tone poem based on the characters, places and events in the story.


    Three Ghouls

    Their names are Denep, Toreel and Blofel. "Ghouls beat the country to lie in wait along roads, to frighten old dames, to terrify children, to howl in the wind, to whine at doors, to bark in the night, to haunt ruins, to cast spells, to grin in the shadows, to visit tombs, to sniff at the dead, to commit a thousand assaults and provoke a thousand calamities. And ghouls changed their shape and are human heads besides".

    Part 1 is their wildness; Part 2 their deviousness: Part 3 their head-hunting.

    City Of Brass

    "Witb a shudder. Sfevie saw that the page was part of that imaginative tale, The City Of Brass. He knew it well-all too well-and. more than once he had wondered if such a city had ever existed or did exist. The story was hardly a story at all, being only an account of tin expedition sent out by a king, and the discovery of a city, entirely of brass, heaped with wealth, hut where all the inhabitants lay strewn about in attitudes of death".

    Queen Tedmur

    "She was a child, having a slim and gracious body, the very model of what a young girl should be, not only for her exquisite face, not only for her beauty and her air of breeding, but also for the perfection of her waist and carriage. Her brow was as white as the first ray fallen from the new moon, her eyes were the eyes of a gazelle, and her brows above them were as the crescent moons of Ramadan. Her cheeks were anemones, her mouth the scarlet seal of Sulayman, her face pale asthefull moon when she first rises above the grasses. As for her young, pliant body, it lay beneath her robe like some precious love letter in a siTken case".

    El Stephen

    "He bad entered a story and the story was writing itself on and on and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it. lie realized fully that the story had been tampered with and that he was the author of its strange continuance. But to author Graco! He shuddered. The man had no mercy in his unclean soul. If Tedmur had remained queen, none of this would have happened. But Tedmur was not queen".

    Stevie Jebson-later El Stephen, is the main character who takes us through the story. He starts off as a thin, timid boy but eventually discovers-out of necessity-a part of himself that is strong, valiant and courageous.

    King & Queen

    The song is a processional in the spirit of a Flamenco party. The last page of the book depicts El Stephen and Queen Tedmur in love and now reigning over the City of Brass to the happiness of all.

    "You are happy, my master ?" she said, eyes adoringly upon him. "I am bappy. my queen", said El Stepben. "I am content".

    Moseb The Executioner

    The executioner Moseb, gave a grunt which passed for an order. A hot iron was handed to him and he advanced upon the stake nearest him which was on the other end of the line from Stevie. The victim, a ragged, diseased fellow, screamed. Stevie could not see what was happening but wind wafted to him the acrid odor of seared flesh. The felt sick and there was no strength in him Fiercely he told himself that he would have to remain cool. But he doubted that he could".

    North Africa

    The flavor and atmosphere of this music reaches from the south of Spain, through North Africa and back to the folklore of Arabian culture.

    Flight From Karoof

    Karoof is the huge, ugly evil Jinn who cast the spell-later broken by El Stephen-on the City of Brass. And when Karoof imprisons Queen Tedmur in the dungeons of his castle, it is El Stephen who rescues her. But as they flee together on horseback, they are soon pursued across the desert by a vengeful Karoof-in the form of a big black cloud of smoke.

    Planes Of Existence

    A depiction of Stevie Jebson's "voyage" into the City of Brass.

    " .. We are attempting interplane coexistence; that is to say. transit between degrees of existence ... and any one of the countless others which coexist with us, perhaps static hut more likfly similar to our own. That there are such planes there can be no doubt".

    Arabian Nights

    A tone poem of the book and the time.

    Gods & Devils

    From the book: Shakar, a young nobleman sharing a prison cell with El Stephen, is amazed to hear he has seen Queen Tedmur.

    "You were in her chamber ? By the gods and devils, my friend, you must be a magician. But you seem to be human. No forgive me. Of course you are human. But I do not understand how you could have seen her".


    Chick Corea performed on a Yamaha Disklavier 9-foot concert grand piano provided by Yamaha Pianos, Fender Rhodes, and Yamaha Motif synthesizer.

    Hubert Laws appears courtesy of SAVOY / DENNON RECORDS.

    Jorge Pardo appears courtesy of flamencodigital.com.

    Airto Moreira plays Odery drums from Brazil, Zildjian cymbals and Vic Firth drumsticks.

    If you would like to communicate with Chick Corea please write to:
    Chick Corea,
    PO Box 1666, Clearwater, FL 33757-1666
    or log onto www.chickcorea.com

    Management ¤ Bill Rooney Chick COREA PRODUCTIONS
    411 Cleveland Street, Suite 215. Clearwatet,
    Florida 33755
    Tel. (727)446-8100

    Booking Agency ¤ Ted KURLAND ASSOCIATES
    173 Brighton Avenue, Boston. Massachusetts 02134
    Tel. (617)254-0007

    Acknowledgement ¤ This recording is graced with amazing talent and creativity.
    My musical partners are among the best of the best. Their artistic qualities, combined with the warmth of our friendships, has really made the making of this record The Ultimate Adventure' for me. My deepest thanks to all for their amazing performances, care and devotion to this music.

    Production ¤ Emanuele Ruffinengo is a genius in the art of recording. He was my mirror for many musical ideas. He also helped me create the keyboard sounds and sequences that I was searching for.

    Technical Notes ¤ The original recording of "City Of Brass" was an improvisation by Hossam and myself, just tabla and piano, one time through. Hossam really set the mood of Arabia and I improvised to his infectious rhythm. The rest of the parts were added afterwards. After our first night improvising, and keeping Hossam's feel in mind, I then wrote, "Flight From Karoof" which we recorded the next night, again, just tabla and piano, adding the rest later.

    Sound ¤ The recording, mixing and mastering of audio recordings become art forms when they are executed creatively with vision as well as with technical perfection. I 'm fortunate to have had this recording mixed and mastered by genius audio artists. Since his early recordings with Henry Mancini and STEELY DAN, to his recent great work on the Ray Charles, Genius Loves Company, I've always admired the beautiful sound-crafting of Al Schmitt. I'm so happy he has put his magic touch on this recording. Bernie Kirsh and I have worked together in the recording studio consistently since 1975 when we recorded The Leprechaun. We've now collaborated on over thirty albums. And once again his flawless recording and encouraging manner are a major part of this project. Buck Snow was assistant engineer on my last project. To the Stars. Now on The Ultimate Adventure, Buck has proven himself to be an amazingly adept and artistic mixer as well. Doug Sax put the finishing touches on the sound and presentation of this recording. He made all the parts into a unified whole with a resultant sound that 1 personally love. Three generations of audio masters.

    Thank Yous ¤ A special thanks to my wife, Gayle, for the love, understanding and support she always gives to my music. To David and Shelly Miscavige for their love and support and for keeping the dream alive and pure. To Barbara and all my friends at Author Services, Inc., for all their help and encouragement. To John Goodwin. Elise Toth and everyone at Galaxy Press for their backup and support. To Chandra and the whole Mad Hatter staff for providing the warmest and highest quality recording environment ever. To my manager. Bill Rooney, for his enthusiasm and Evelyn Brechtlein and all the Chick Corea Productions staff for their help and coordination of this recording. To Glen Barros and everyone at Concord Rf cords for their continuous support.

    Special Thanks ¤ L. Ron Hubbard has been providing me with inspiration through his great legacy of works since 1968. My appreciation of his genius and his humanity continues to grow. I thank him once again for all he has given, and this time especially for this unique fantasy, The Ultimate Adventure, the text that inspired this music.

    Additional Thanks Òî ¤ Yamaha and Brian Alexander.

    L. Ron Hubbard's
    The Ultimate Adventure

    Embark on a perilous journey into a mirror dimension where the magic is real, the demons are bloodthirsty, and fate has just charged a mere mortal with saving the enchanted City Of Brass ...

    "But the light was gone, and all was dark and somewhere afar there came ë spinning sound as though a siren started its rise into its piercing shriek Din burst upon Stevie. A giant red wheel spun, crashing its gears. The vortex of a scarlet maelstrom yawned wide, comets flashed, cannon thunder and gale sent him crashing-endlessly down. down, down!

    "He wailed against it, but his frail voice was lost. He strove to pray hit screaming wind jerked the words from bis blue lips. His stomach tightened. He was tumbling end over end. forever and forever and -
    "There was only a gentle moan of wind, and the sand was cool against his face. He lay very still, gripping the solidity under him with anxious fingers. Slowly the whole mad scheme came back to him ...".
    - From The Ultimate Adventure

    In a bizarre twist of fate, Stevie Jebson is caught between two worlds as an unwilling victim of a renegade research experiment. On Earth, he is held at the mercy of a sadistic scientist; while in a mirror dimension he is pitted against magical demons, ravenous ghouls and a wild array of dangers in an enchanted city. It's a world where the entire populace, including the beautiful Queen Tedmur, have been spellbound and enslaved for untold years. Faced with an impossible task to regain his freedom, Stevie must venture into this exotic world of madness, fear, death, trickery, ghouls and beauty...a place with a hero to be bom and a magical princess to be won.