Chick Corea has had a very diverse career and has consistently been among the most popular of all jazzmen, but his avant-garde music of 1970-1971 certainly will not appeal to fans of his fusion band,
Return to Forever. His group,
Circle, is well-showcased on this two-LP set which finds
Corea, reed master
Anthony Braxton, bassist
Dave Holland, and drummer
Barry Altschul performing three lengthy group improvisations. In addition,
Altschul is showcased on
"Percussion Piece," and
Braxton sits out on the trio selection
"Drone." The music is generally quite difficult with sound explorations emphasized over melodic development, and is much closer to the direction that
Braxton would explore than what
Corea would be playing two years later. But open-eared listeners who enjoy avant-garde jazz will find much to savor during these fascinating performances from one of the new music's top (if short-lived) regular groups. ~ Scott Yanow
![Pharoah [Expanded Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0680899800822_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Pharoah [Expanded Edition]")
