Chick Corea and the classic line-up of the Elektric Band reunited in 2004, released a CD titled To the Stars, and played a highly memorable concert at the illustrious Montreux Jazz Festival, captured here for all posterity on this DVD release from Eagle Rock Entertainment. What you get here is just under 3 hours of vintage Elektric Band, featuring the classic line-up of Corea on keyboards, John Patitucci on bass, Dave Weckl on drums, Frank Gambale on guitar, and Eric Marienthal (not Eddie as he is listed in the booklet) on sax. The first set consists of the then brand new CD To The Stars played in its entirety, which is a pretty daring move but thankfully the Montreux faithful took it all in and loved every minute of it, the band enjoying being together on stage again for their first tour in a decade, and really sinking into these new songs with plenty of fire, finesse, and virtuosity. After a short break, the band comes back out for some older classics, like "Got a Match", "Spain", "CTA", and "Eternal Child", each tune stretched out to epic length, allowing for plenty of smoking fusion solos and interplay among the musicians. Each one is a virtuoso in his own right, so look for Marienthal's soaring sax lines, Gambale's furious monster sweep picking, Patitucci's nimble bass runs, and the always impressive Corea on tasty Fender Rhodes and array of synths.
What more can you say, nearly 3 hours of amazing fusion from one of the best bands to grace the scene in the last 25 years. Though they had been away for 10 years when this concert was filmed, you'd never know it from this performance. Flawless, impeccable, jaw dropping, you name it, it's all that and then some.
Track Listing
Part 1: To The Stars
1) Port View 1
2) Check Blast
3) Mistress Luck – A Portrait
4) Mistress Luck – The Party
5) Port View 2
6) Johnny's Landing
7) Port View 3
8) Alan Corday
9) Port View 4
10) The Long Passage
11) Port View 5
Part 2:
12) CTA
13) Eternal Child
14) Got A Match
15) Spain
16) Blue Miles
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