Thursday night Billy Joel continued his record-breaking residency at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where he made a few mentions of the terrorist attacks in Paris and welcomed a pair of special guests including jazz legend Chick Corea. Billy and his band opened the show with a stirring rendition of the French National Anthem that they transitioned into “My Life.” Joel told the crowd, “Thanks for coming tonight. A lot of people are scared, but we have to keep doing what we do as free people…so fuck 'em!” Later in the show, Billy welcomed flutist Sydney Ruggles for “She's Always A Woman.” – JamBase
After opening with five songs featuring just his long-time touring band, Joel invited the jazz & fusion keyboardist and founder of Return to Forever, Chick Corea, to the stage for three songs. They played “Big Man on Mulberry Street” followed by “Zanzibar,” which featured solos by trumpet player Carl Fischer as well as Chick laying his synthesizer runs over Joel's on the grand piano. They finished up with “New York State of Mind,” which featured long-time saxophone player Mark Rivera and Corea on solos. – Elmore Magazine
