Struck by Lightning, Guided by Corea's Hand
Corea's keyboard work anchors an album that balances Brazilian roots with fusion energy.
What makes Struck by Lightning distinctive is Chick Corea's presence throughout. By 1989, Corea had spent decades working across jazz fusion's widest territory, and here he functions as both anchor and counterpoint to Airto's restless percussion vision. Airto had already earned his place in fusion history — years with Miles Davis, Return to Forever, Weather Report — but this album finds him assembling a ensemble that needed someone to ground the experiments. Corea does that without simplifying anything.
The lineup itself suggests what's happening: two bass players working in parallel, flutes alongside keyboards, layers of percussion that include both Junior Homrich and Mike Shapiro alongside Airto's own work. This is not a drums-and-piano trio expanded; it's a textural project where rhythm and harmony need to negotiate constantly. José Neto on acoustic and electric guitar, Gary Meek moving between flute and keyboard — these are colors, not roles. Corea's presence keeps the music from dissolving into texture alone. His comping and soloing insist on harmonic clarity even when everything else is in motion.
Struck by Lightning sits late in Airto's career, neither a peak nor a departure but a confident statement from a musician who'd already proven he could play anywhere. The fusion idiom by 1989 was well-established, and Airto wasn't interested in reinventing it. Instead, he wanted to see what happened when you brought together musicians who understood both the Brazil-rooted traditions he'd grown up in and the electric vocabulary he'd mastered. Corea was the natural choice for that conversation.
Who's playing
Randy Ticofretless bass
Rob Harrisonelectric upright bass
Mark Eganelectric upright bass
José Netoacoustic guitar, electric guitar
Gary Meekflute, keyboard
Junior Homrichpercussion
Airto Moreirapercussion
Mike Shapiromembranophone
Marcos Silvakeyboard
Chick Coreakeyboard
Where next?
More by Airto Moreira
All 20 albums →
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
