Picture Chick Corea smiling down from jazz heaven as Hubert Laws gives him the musical high sign. Laws has the right demeanor -- calm, present and direct -- and the appropriate flute skills to celebrate his old friend's legacy. The lyrical side of the great keyboardist's vast oeuvre seems to be what Laws remembers best.
Laws begins Corea's classic "Windows" with a thoughtful, pretty flute improvisation before pianist Rob Mullins and bassist John Leftwich kick into the quick, hooky waltz, which swings with the youthful optimism of a young woman skipping down an oceanside pathway.
Corea's "You're Everything" gets into a similarly meditative start, then frisks into a Latinate melody. Leftwich's bass solo is a song, interrupted by brief flute comments that both Leftwich and Laws clearly enjoy.
The trio make their most specific memorial statement with J.J. Johnson's "Lament." Mullins supports the sculptured melody with subdued piano and cushy synthesizer that make us sense a change in the movie's plot, which turns out to be an unexpectedly upbeat scene kicked along by Leftwich's walking bass.
Mullins applies his crisp touch to a chiming Rhodes-like sensuality for Corea's "Spain," which follows a somber Andalusian beginning with a twitching rhythmic adventure accented by Mullins' deft crosshand piano solo. The message throughout the set seems to be "Experience your sadness, then pick up and carry on."
We feel as if we're listening in someone's living room, and the modern white backdrop bears that out. Mr. Laws certainly feels at home, kicking back as his flute's clean soul flows flawlessly, and his foot pats the floor to acknowledge the tempo and the temporal. The 40 minutes fly by.
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You can watch the concert here and donate to the Jazz Bakery here.