One of my favorite pieces, both to listen to and to play on the piano, is Chick Corea’s Spain.
Its first appearance was in 1972, when the album ‘Light as a Feather’ was published. After a slow opening, which is actually the adagio from Joaquin Rodrigo’s ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’, the song turns into something very similar to samba.
The theme is very delightful and evocative, one of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to.
The improvisation choruses have this structure, still inspired by Rodrigo’s composition:
| Gmaj7 | F#7 | Em7 A7 | Dmaj7 (Gmaj7) | C#7 F#7 | Bm B7 |
This structure is open to changes and harmonic adaptation, for instance, I like A7add13 instead of the simple A7 or, C13 instead of F#7 (hitting C and then F A Bb D).
There are many other versions of Spain I personally like a lot, apart from the original.
The 1989 Chick Corea’s ‘Akoustic Band’ reharmonization, with John Patitucci and Dave Weckl is worth listening to.
Also, I particularly appreciate the Live at Montreux 2004 version with Chick Corea’s Elektric Band, with John Patitucci, Dave Weckl, Frank Gambale and Eric Marienthal, which is a more traditional version.
Finally, the Live in Barcelona version. I’m not actually sure when this version was executed, but it should be 2005 since I saw the ‘37 Voll-Damm Festival de Jazz de Barcelona’ trademark. Here, Chick’s band members include: 2 percussionists, a drummer, a flutist and a bassist. It’s definitely my favorite version of all.