Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer,
pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles
High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and "Windows" are widely considered jazz standards
In late 1971 he formed his band "Return to Forever" to perform primarily latin-orientated jazz. The
band included saxophonist Joe Farrell, bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer Airto Moreira and singer
Flora Purim, some of whom had been in Stan Getz's band together with Corea. They played their
debut at the Village Vanguard, New York in November 1971 and recorded their eponymous first
album in February 1972 including "La Fiesta". The album was released in 1972, but only in Europe.
The US release didn't follow until 1975. Although there is no proof, it seems most likely that Corea
composed "La Fiesta" specifically for "Return to Forever" in 1971, but of course it's possible that he
had been working on the piece for some time before that.