Light Years is a 1987 Album by the Chick Corea Elektric Band. It features Chick Corea with guitarist Frank Gambale, saxophonist Eric Marienthal, drummer Dave Weckl and bassist John Patitucci. Also guitarist Carlos Rios plays on some tracks. The album was nominated and received the 1988 Grammy Award for the Best R&B Instrumental Performance (orchestra,group or soloist).
The second recording by Chick Corea's Elektric Band was the first to feature altoist Eric Marienthal and guitarist Frank Gambale in addition to bassist John Patitucci, drummer Dave Weckl and the leader/keyboardist. Unlike most other fusion groups, these musicians displayed original musical personalitites and Corea's compositions tended to be memorable. This is one of The Elektric Band's better releases.
With the classic Elektric Band lineup in place — Chick, Eric Marienthal
(saxophone), Frank Gambale (guitar), John Patitucci (bass) and Dave
Weckl (drums) — Chick created a masterpiece of electric jazz: powerful,
swinging grooves, passionate solos and virtuosic group interplay
throughout. It was a defining moment in jazz, and Light Years is a high-water mark.
Chick seems to enjoy exploring. With these players he has the perfect
ensemble to do that. I get the feeling that he wraps his head around a
sound or feel that he wants and just goes after it. Each album seems to
point in a different direction with each track taking us further out
there. Sometimes we don't know where we are going but it is sure a fun
ride. I don't know if he's exploring techno or what on this one but
there is so much subtle stuff going around a huge, fat beat that it's
hard not to play it over wondering what you just heard. You definitely
have to have a good sound system to listen to this; otherwise you miss
it, like taking a scenic highway with dirty windows.
My guess is that you have probably never heard of this band, unless you
are specifically looking for it, and that much I guess is unlikely. So,
to describe this band I will list some bands that you may have heard of
that remind me of the material on this work; those would be Liquid Trio
Experiment, Bill Frisell, and John Scofield. If you can dig stuff from
those artists, I highly recommend this album. One thing I will say is
that you are most certainly not guaranteed to like this album from Chick
and crew if you like his band Return to Forever.
By now having
listened to this album in the mix for a few years, I definitely give it a
thumbs up. Every track is worth many, many listens.
I guess though
is that this music is music for musicians, and pretty much musicians
only will buy this album, and most us are poor, so I can't imagine this
album sold many copies. Chances are you will only be able to find this
album on your computer, such as a used album from Amazon.com, but not at
a record store. These days even record stores sometimes won't carry
something this rare. That is a shame, because this is really good
music.
Another way I might describe this as 1980s jazz. The
musicianship is great, but the electronics aren't quite that great, and
after albums like this one flopped, I can definitely understand the move
to return to more of an analogue sound, such as a Hammond B3 organ.
So, the hard part of this album to sell is that it is electric, and uses
cheesy synthesizers from start to finish. I do believe that was
Chick's aim; to explore new technology and to marry it with jazz. I
believe that Chick did an excellent job of that on this album. The
music on this album is great and timeless for those that love music, but
someone who is interested in sound quality may turn his or her nose up
at this one.
Track listing
1. "Light Years" – 3:51
2. "Second Sight" – 4:12
3. "Flamingo" – 4:08
4. "Prism" – 3:29
5. "Time Track" – 5:02
6. "Starlight" – 3:51
7. "Your Eyes" – 3:56
8. "The Dragon" – 5:31
9. "View from the Outside" – 6:33
10. "Smokescreen" – 4:24
11. "Hymn of the Heart" – 6:40
12. "Kaleidoscope" – 8:03
Tracks 10-12 are omitted from the original release and appear only on CD reissues.
Line-up / Musicians
- Chick Corea / Keyboards
- Frank Gambale / Guitars
- John Patitucci / Bass
- Eric Marienthal / Saxophone
- Dave Weckl / Drums
Wonderful album! One of my all-time favorites
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ReplyDeleteEsse é um clássico. Obrigado!
ReplyDeleteChick Corea Elektric Band - Light Years
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuGZIm0oG10
new link please...
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ReplyDeleteNo more link. Can you please reupload? Thank you Crimhead.
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