Spain is an instrumental jazz fusion composition by jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea. It is likely Corea's most recognized piece, and some would consider it a modern jazz standard.
Spain was composed in 1971 and appeared in its original (and most well-known) rendition on the album Light as a Feather, with performances by Corea (Rhodes electric piano), Airto Moreira (drums), Flora Purim (vocals and percussion), Stanley Clarke (bass), and Joe Farrell (flute). It has been recorded in several versions, by Corea himself as well as by other artists, including a flamenco version by Paco de Lucia and John McLaughlin in the 1980s, and a progressive bluegrass version by Bela Fleck in 1979. More recently, Corea has performed it as a duo with Japanese pianist Hiromi Uehara.
The Light as a Feather version of Spain received two Grammy nominations, for Best Instrumental Arrangement and for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Group. In 2001, Corea was awarded the Best Instrumental Arrangement Grammy for "Spain for Sextet and Orchestra".
Corea opens the Light as a Feather version of Spain with the adagio from Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. After the intro, the song switches to a fast, steady samba-like rhythm, in which the main theme and an improvisation part are repeated. At the break, the listener is required to clap along to the beat.
The chord progression used during the improvisation part is based on harmonic progressions in Rodrigo's concerto. It runs as follows:
Gmaj7 F#7 Em7 A7 Dmaj7 (Gmaj7) C#7 F#7 Bm B7
In line with jazz philosophy, other interpretations of the song are structured differently and some might only retain the main theme or parts of it. In the Paco de Lucia and John McLaughlin version some chords are altered in parts, including the F#7 to F#7b9 or F#7aug and C#7 to C#7#9.
Light as a Feather (1972) - Chick Corea and Return to Forever
Akoustic Band (1989) - Chick Corea w. Akoustic Band
Play (1990) - Chick Corea w. Bobby McFerrin
Return to the Seventh Galaxy: The Anthology (CD 1996) - Chick Corea w. Bill Connors, Stanley Clarke & Lenny White
Alexia In a Jazz Mood (CD 1996) - Alexia Vassiliou feat. Chick Corea
Solo Piano: Originals (CD 2000) - Chick Corea solo
Corea.Concerto (2001) - Chick Corea w. Origin and the London Philharmonic Orchestra
Rendezvous in New York (CD 2003, DVD 2005) - Chick Corea w. Akoustic Band (DVD only), and w/ Bobby McFerrin and Bela Fleck (DVD only), and w/ Gonzalo Rubalcaba (CD/DVD)
Elektric Band: Live at Montreux 2004 (2004) - Chick Corea w. Elektric Band
Akoustic Band 1991 (DVD 2005) - Chick Corea w. Akoustic Band
Duet (2009) - Chick Corea & Hiromi Uehara
Trilogy (2013) - Check Corea with Christian McBride and Brian Blade
Various covers by other artists, including:
Manhattan Wildlife Refuge (1974) - Bill Watrous
Live and Improvised (1976) - Blood Sweat & Tears
Something You Got (1977) - Art Farmer
Crossing the Tracks (1979) - Bela Fleck
This Time (1980) - Al Jarreau (with lyrics)
Live With Vic Juris (1985) - Bireli Lagrene
Jaco Pastorius & Bireli Lagrene & Alex Bally (1985) - Bireli Lagrene & Jaco Pastorius of jazzpoint records
New Weave (1986) - Rare Silk
Naurava Kulkuri (1986) - Vesa-Matti Loiri (under a pseudonym Jean-Pierre Kusela, with Finnish lyrics written by himself)
Sensacion (1987) - Tito Puente
Daybreak (1987) - Bela Fleck
Thousand Wave (1988) - Takahiro Matsumoto
GRP All-Star Big Band (1992) - GRP All-Star Big Band
Rosenberg Trio: Live at the North Sea Jazz Festival (1993) - Rosenberg Trio
Zlatko (1995) - Zlatko Manojlović
DGQ-20 (1996) - David Grisman Quintet
Two Guitars One Passion (1996) - Lara & Reyes
Tango del Fuego (1999) - James Galway
Czechmate (1999) - Druha Trava
Spain (2000) - Michel Camilo & Tomatito
La Nuit Des Gitans (2001) - Raphael Fays
Crosscurrent (2005) - Jake Shimabukuro
Gently Weeps (2006) - Jake Shimabukuro
Steps (2009) - Cluster
Keropak (2010) - Ayaka Hirahara
Live at Last (2008) - Stevie Wonder
Acoustic live (2009) - Pegasus (Issei Noro & Tetsuo Sakurai)
Joe Robinson and Slava Grigoryan for Hey Hey It's Saturday in 2009
The Story So Far (2011) - Sarah Ellen Hughes and Sector7
Spanish Suite (Concierto de Aranjuez - Spain) (2014) - Chick Corea, Eric Owens, Terence Blanchard & The Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra
