The Chick Corea/Gary Burton partnership dates back 40 years, most notably to their 1973 recording, Crystal Silence. Reprised in 2008 as The New Crystal Silence, it prompted a reunion duo tour. They’re on the road again to celebrate Hot House, their 40th anniversary commemoration mostly recorded in Corea’s home “studio” and featuring arrangements (largely handled by Corea) of nine works by favorite composers of the 1940s-1960s, as well as a new composition from Corea. This is a significant departure from the fare of their previous recordings, which were largely original compositions. Notes Burton, “We chose songs that are generally not that well known; the composers’ names are probably more familiar than the songs to most listeners. The final result feels very fresh and different to us.”  And to us, the listeners.

The music covers Bill Evans, Tadd Dameron, Dave Brubeck, Kurt Weill, Monk and Jobim, as well as a Tatum favorite and Lennon & McCartney; Corea’s “Mozart Goes Dancing” was arranged to include the Harlem String Quartet for the album’s finale. They prance through the opening “Can’t We Be Friends,” first recorded by Tatum and filled with the partners alternating swinging tumbles, finishing with more give-and-take and harmonic delights. Music of Lennon and McCartney has been fair game for jazz artists for years, but perhaps never with such regal results as at the hands of Corea and Burton. Their version of “Eleanor Rigby” (which Corea recorded solo for a 1995 GRP Beatles tribute) highlights the beauty of the melody and previously unexplored harmonic possibilities. Burton notes, “I’m not sure what Sir Paul would say.” But I suspect it would be “Jolly Good!”

Both Burton and Corea separately worked with Stan Getz who introduced them to the music of Jobim, represented here with an almost balladic “Chega de Saudade” (“No More Blues”) and a more blatantly luxurious “Once I Loved.” Elegance from the individuals and the pair also prevails on Bill Evans’ “Time Remembered,” with Burton’s sustained notes particularly haunting. The duo pays homage to bebop with Dameron’s “Hot House”, unintentionally starting to solo simultaneously and turning a  potential false start into a jagged, winning collaboration. One of Monk’s more obscure tunes, “Light Blue” provides a signature Thelonious framework for playful interaction. Although often overshadowed by the big hits of Time Out (“Take Five” and “Blue Rondo a la Turk”), Brubeck’s “Strange Meadowlark” is among his most beautiful tunes, and one of the most beautiful here as well, while Kurt Weill’s “My Ship” seems to travel in new directions with Corea and Burton exquisitely sharing the helm. They close with Corea’s “Mozart Goes Dancing,” initially planned as a duet but recast with the Harlem String Quartet and recorded at Avatar in New York. The strings add a layer of orchestral excitement that helps make this track the most powerful statement of the set and a stirring finale.

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