Gary Burton
Born in 1943 and raised in Indiana, Gary Burton taught himself to play the vibraphone and, at the age of 17, made his recording debut in Nashville, Tennessee, with guitarists Hank Garland and Chet Atkins. Two years later, Burton left his studies at Berklee College of Music to join George Shearing and subsequently Stan Getz, with whom he worked from 1964-1966. As a member of Getz’s quartet, Burton won Down Beat magazine’s Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition award in 1965. By the time he left Getz to form his own quartet in 1967, Burton had also recorded three albums under his name for RCA. Borrowing rhythms and sonorities from rock music, while maintaining jazz’s emphasis on improvisation and harmonic complexity, Burton’s first quartet attracted large audiences from both sides of the jazz-rock spectrum. Such albums as Duster and Lofty Fake Anagram established Burton and his band as progenitors of the jazz fusion phenomenon.

Chick Corea
An NEA Jazz Master, 16-time Grammy® winner, prolific composer and undisputed keyboard virtuoso, Chick Corea has attained living legend status after four decades of unparalleled creativity and an artistic output that is simply staggering.

From straight ahead to avant-garde, bebop to fusion, children’s songs to chamber music, along with some far-reaching forays into symphonic works, Chick Corea has touched an astonishing number of musical bases in his illustrious career while maintaining a standard of excellence that is awe-inspiring. A tirelessly creative spirit, Chick Corea continues to forge ahead, continually reinventing himself in the process.

Chick Corea began his career with apprenticeships with the likes of Stan Getz, Sarah Vaughan and Miles Davis’s band, where he participated in such landmark sessions as In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. Embarking on a solo career in 1966, Chick Corea has been at the forefront of jazz, both as a renowned pianist forging new ground with his acoustic jazz bands and as an innovative electric keyboardist with Return to Forever and the Elektric Band. His extensive discography boasts numerous essential albums, beginning with his 1968 classic, Now He Sings, Now He Sobs.

Chick Corea continues to make a significant impact on the scene, as evidenced by 2007’s Grammy®-winning The Enchantment (duets with banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck), 2008’s The New Crystal Silence (duets with long-standing collaborator Gary Burton), 2009’s Returns (documenting Return To Forever’s 2008 reunion tour) and 2009’s Grammy®-winning Five Peace Band Live (with John McLaughlin, Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett and Vinnie Colaiuta).

2011 demonstrated Chick Corea’s virtuosity in all its forms: he mounted a hugely successful world tour with Return to Forever IV, received a Latin Grammy® for the Corea, Clarke & White album Forever, released the acclaimed piano duet album Orvieto with Stefano Bollani, recorded his second concerto, The Continents, with a 30-piece orchestra (due for release on Deutsche Grammophon in February 2012) and capped the year with a month-long, career-spanning residency at New York’s Blue Note, featuring ten bands, including John McLaughlin, Herbie Hancock and Bobby McFerrin.