Article Contributed by Mike
Published on October 18, 2025
Today, Candid Records and Chick Corea Productions released Forever Yours: The Farewell Performance. Now available on all DSPs, the CD and 2-LP vinyl set are slated to arrive on February 27, 2026 and are available for pre-order now.
Capturing 28-time GRAMMY-winner Chick Corea’s final performances before his passing, the album showcases a series of solo piano offerings at the peak of his virtuosity. With Corea’s death leaving an unfillable hole in the jazz landscape, the album stands as both a definitive document of the Chick Corea solo experience and a deeply affecting goodbye to the beloved Jazz master.
Listen To Forever Yours: The Farewell Performance
Pre-Order The CD & 2-LP Vinyl Set
When asked about Chick Corea’s selflessness and generosity off the stage, Chick Corea Productions president Jordin Pinkus said, “He really was the rarest exception to that trope about ‘Never meet your heroes,’ and one of his interests, of course, was to connect with those who came to hear him and touch cultures all around the planet.” Pinkus continues, “You could be a fan meeting him for the first time, and you’d be shocked because he would be so interested in what you’re doing. He would want to know about your music, what instrument you play.”
Recorded in October of 2020 when Corea gave two inspired solo-piano concerts at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, FL, Forever Yours boasts that signature Corea brand of cascading virtuosity — the jaw-dropping technical command and harmonic knowledge that somehow feels only flowing and swinging, never verbose. Then there’s the program, in which Corea offers his revered original music (“Armando’s Rhumba,” a mini-recital of his delightful Children’s Songs) alongside homages to some of the composers he held dearest: Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Mozart, Stevie Wonder, Bill Evans, Duke Ellington, all of which is stitched together by Corea’s musical prowess.
The performances showcase not only his brilliant knack for continuity, but also the profound sense of generosity and playfulness that was at the core of his being. Throughout the recording, we’re treated to Corea’s uncut spoken interludes, where he introduces tunes and explains concepts in his affable, familial way, as if engaged in friendly conversation with visiting neighbors. He also performs two of his “Portrait” pieces, in which he brings members of the audience onto the stage and improvises music based on their presence.
A beacon of love and selflessness, when Corea passed on February 9, 2021, the many obituaries, essays and social-media tributes that poured forth were packed with testimonials elevating his warmth and goodwill. The liner notes to Forever Yours contain many heartfelt messages of admiration, from family, friends and peers including Alicia Keys, Herbie Hancock, Hans Zimmer, Robert Glasper, Bobby McFerrin, Stanley Clarke, Lang Lang and others. The album as a whole serves as a satisfying, heartfelt farewell to one of Jazz’s most revered masters.
Tracklist:
Chick’s Welcome
Armando’s Rhumba
It Could Happen to You
Overjoyed
Piano Sonata in F Major, K. 322: II. Adagio
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
Chick Talks About Monk And Bud
‘Round Midnight
Trinkle Tinkle
Dusk In Sandi
Waltz For Debby
In A Sentimental Mood
Chick Talks Portraits
Portrait: Sam
Chick Introduces The Next Portrait
Portrait: Terri
Chick Talks Children’s Songs
Children’s Song No. 1
Children’s Song No. 2
Children’s Song No. 10
Children’s Song No. 17
Children’s Song No. 19
Children’s Song No. 20
About Chick Corea:
Born in 1941 in Massachusetts, the iconic keyboardist, composer and bandleader Chick Corea was a DownBeat Hall of Famer and NEA Jazz Master, as well as one of the most nominated artists in GRAMMY Awards history with 75 nods – and 28 wins, in addition to 5 Latin GRAMMYS. From straight-ahead to avant-garde, bebop to jazz-rock fusion, children’s songs to chamber and symphonic works, Corea touched an astonishing number of musical bases in his career since playing with the genre-shattering bands of Miles Davis in the late ’60s and early ’70s.
While one would expect the 20th century to have been the apex of Corea’s career, he was certainly as productive in the 21st. Whether playing acoustic piano or electric keyboards, leading multiple bands, performing solo or collaborating with a who’s who of musicians, Chick’s career never paused. Underscoring this, he was named Artist of the Year three times between 2014 and 2018 in the DownBeat Readers Poll, a publication that called him “a pianist virtually without peer.”CANDID RECORDS: From 1960-1963, founder, A&R man, and producer Nat Hentoff recorded over 30 extraordinary albums for the Candid Records label. One cannot underestimate the breadth of these recordings – from bebop to the avant-garde, to blues. Candid sat dormant for years until Black Lion Records founder and producer, Alan Bates, bought the label in 1989. The next phase of Candid Records is happening now. Since its relaunch in 2021 the label has reissued over 30 titles to high critical acclaim. Thanks to brilliant new releases, Candid has received four GRAMMY® awards – 2024 winners the Count Basie Orchestra, 2023 winners Terri Lyne Carrington and Wayne Shorter, and 2022 winner Eliane Elias. Today’s Candid is not only committed to its legacy but looks forward to defining its future with the quality music that is synonymous with its elite heritage. Learn more at www.candidrecords.com
