Record Reviews

CHICK COREA / ELECTRIC BAND ~ THE FUTURE IS NOW CANDID 708857330027 (Barcode: 708857330027) ~ USA ~ Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2016 - 2018 Released: 2023 This is a live album by the iconic American keyboardist / composer / bandleader Chick CoreaFind albums by this artist and his Electric BandFind albums by this artist, which comprises of saxophonist Eric MarienthalFind albums by this artist, guitarist Frank GambaleFind albums by this artist, bassist John PatitucciFind albums by this artist and drummer Dave WecklFind albums by this artist. The 2CD album collects nine performances from five concerts, recorded during a couple of years. The album was released posthumously, following Correa’s death in 2021. All the music was composed or co-composed by Corea, except one track, which is a standard. The music is as perfect as Fusion gets, and for people who love that genre, it is exactly what they expect to hear. These are some of the best American Jazz musicians, and they know what is expected of them. Corea was a sublime composer and his tunes are always a pleasure to hear. And yet, this album is quite a disappointment in many ways. It adds absolutely nothing to what we have already heard from this band earlier on, and in a broader sense everything we have heard from electric Chick Corea, since the beginning of the Return To ForeverFind albums by this artist days. The problem is not Corea – it’s the Fusion idiom, which in retrospect turned out to be the most limited and narrow-minded Jazz genre in history, which enjoyed a few years of grace in the 1970s and since then is stuck completely. This does not mean this is a bad album, not at all, it is a great Fusion album, but it suffers from all the faults of contemporary Fusion, which makes the genre simply redundant. But since Corea, who, mind you, is one of my all-time favorite musicians, decided to play this music, I respect it and try to enjoy it for what it is. Overall, for Fusion lovers, this is an excellent addition to their collection and a most enjoyable piece of music. For Jazz lovers, who are familiar with Corea’s Fusion output, this is just more of the same, which is also perfectly fine in his case, since he was a Genius, but perhaps not enough to include this album in their collection?

Updated: 02/09/2025Posted: 02/09/2025

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