Chick Corea Elektric Band
Eye Of The Beholder

Chick Corea: keyboards

Frank Gambale: guitar

John Patitucci: bass

Eric Marienthal: sax

Dave Weckl: drums

Chick Corea Elektric Band, or jazz for everyone.

"Eye of the Beholder" in particular is an album that should be "taken" from childhood like a vitamin, fascinating and direct as it is; thanks to listening to it, one would immediately grasp the secret magic of jazz music. And perhaps you might surprise school friends who are talking about Vibrazioni and Madonna by suddenly mentioning a strange guy named Duke Ellington.

The effect of this album is very quick, in about 53 minutes we are submerged by irresistible melodies, as if we were listening to pop music. If we were to absurdly try to overlap the voice of Donal Fagen on any of these tracks, by slowing them down, it might result in a song by Steely Dan. At the end of the album, it doesn't even seem like half an hour has passed, because the music has flowed away so freshly; no dead moments left behind, no sound that seemed dated. Only suggestive and very, very modern phrasing. The album dates back to 1988, and it's not wrong to say it sounds very "eighties"; the Elektric Band is composed of four young talents (all thirty or younger) directed by the more "mature" Chick Corea, who after being a disciple of Miles Davis at the time of the "Bitches Brew", has now been promoted, without playing the part of the boss.

Compared to the funk-jazz of the previous and beautiful "Light Years", the musical coordinates have increased: jazz, rock, funk, new age, even Caribbean touches and touches of flamenco. The artistic flair is tied to a mix of classic and electric sounds: thus Chick Corea plays around with keyboards with an evocative tone while adjusting his glasses, like an old professional; meanwhile, Weckl's drums vibrate with surprising happiness; Marienthal's ubiquitous sax is spine-chilling; Patitucci's rhythm is excellent, and it is displayed with such simplicity that it leaves you speechless; Gambale's guitar is uncatchable, meaning that when it decides to move, you stand there still like a fool. The album's melodies are all magnificent, and some musical passages form worlds unto themselves. Mysteries of jazz. I would say this is one of those practically perfect, and practically unknown albums. And perhaps this is why it intrigues even more.

The tracks of "Eye of the Beholder" you could whistle under the shower, at the office, at school, in line at the post office, walking on a Wednesday. Maybe they recall a blurred scene from the late eighties, imagine a lit-up floor of a skyscraper where there's a small party, people with strange jackets, and many other anonymous buildings around, somewhere in Los Angeles. But there would be much more to say.

One piece of advice: listen to this album late at night, in summer, while driving on the highway. All around is only silence and suspension. Beautiful.