Now He Sings, Now He Sobs

Now He Sings, Now He Sobs
Studio album by Chick Corea
Released	December 1968 [1]
Recorded	March 14, 19 and 27, 1968
Studio	A&R Studios, New York City
Genre	Jazz, post-bop, free jazz
Length	40:24 Original LP 68:48 CD reissue
Label	Solid State SR 3157 Blue Note 2002 CD reissue {724353826529}
Producer	Sonny Lester
Chick Corea chronology
Tones for Joan's Bones (1968) Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (1968) Is (1969)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[4]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[3]

Now He Sings, Now He Sobs is the second studio album by Chick Corea, released in December 1968 on Solid State Records. It features Corea in a trio with bassist Miroslav Vitouš and drummer Roy Haynes. In 2002 it was reissued on CD by Blue Note with eight bonus tracks recorded at the same sessions.

All of the tracks on the original album are improvisations based on Corea’s ideas, with some being entirely free improvisations (such as "The Law of Falling and Catching Up" and "Fragments"). Vitous and Haynes would reunite with Corea as an acoustic trio on Trio Music (ECM, 1982), Trio Music, Live in Europe (ECM, 1986), and The Trio Live From The Country Club (Stretch, 1996).

The bonus tracks released on the CD include a cover of Thelonious Monk's composition "Pannonica" and the Wood/Mellin standard "My One and Only Love". All eight pieces had originally been issued in 1975 on Circling In, a Blue Note “twofer”.

In 1999, the single "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs" was given the Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

Reception

The singer Bilal names it among his 25 favorite albums, explaining: "I think that's just one of the best jazz trio albums ever. Mostly every jazz musician I talk to love that album. It's just a classic."^[5]

Track listing

All tracks are originals by the performers, except where noted.

Original release

1. "Steps - What Was" – 13:53
2. "Matrix" – 6:29
3. "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs" – 7:05
4. "Now He Beats the Drum, Now He Stops" – 10:40
5. "The Law of Falling and Catching Up" – 2:28

1988 CD release bonus tracks

6. "Samba Yantra" – 2:41
7. "Bossa" – 4:44
8. "I Don't Know" – 2:43
9. "Fragments" – 4:03
10. "Windows" – 3:12
11. "Gemini" – 4:23
12. "Pannonica" (Thelonious Monk) – 3:00
13. "My One and Only Love" (Guy Wood, Robert Mellin) – 3:34

Personnel

• Chick Corea – piano
• Miroslav Vitouš – bass
• Roy Haynes – drums
• Sonny Lester – producer

See also

• Trio Music (ECM, 1982)
• Trio Music Live in Europe (ECM, 1986)

References

External links

• Chick Corea - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (1968) album review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, credits & releases at AllMusic
• Chick Corea - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (1968) album releases & credits at Discogs
• Chick Corea - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs (1968) album to be listened as stream on Spotify