ELEKTRIC!

The Shape of Jazz to Come is an album by Ornette Coleman from the end of the fifties, but there are several releases in jazz history that could bear the name. One of them is certainly Chick Corea’s Elektric Band’s debut album.  Corea evidently drafted the blueprint for modern jazz-fusion with the album, especially with the composition “Got a Match.” Being at the forefront of jazz fusion at the end of the 60s with the Miles Davis’ bands, Corea elevated fusion to another level in the mid-80s. if anyone ever wants to know what fusion is all about, point them to this album. It’s a record favored by many, starting from the jazz audiences all the way to the prog fans. Alongside Corea and his innovative use of then-modern synthesizers, the record features drummer Dave Weckl, bass player John Patitucci and guitarists Scott Henderson and Carlos Rios. This album is often classified as "jazz-rock", though it is much closer to traditional jazz than the fusion albums of the 1970s. The keyboard sounds on the album are typical for the mid-1980s. Perhaps one of the most revolutionary novelties that this album brought was Dave Weckl’s drumming which dominates the album's sound, The guitar duties, split between Scott Henderson and Carlos Rios, are well executed, while for Patitucci this was a breakthrough appearance. The album features a heavy use of FM synthesis, MIDI and drum programming, expanding on Corea's previous work in later lineups of Return to Forever (band) and reflecting the technology of the time. His instruments include the Yamaha KX-88 MIDI keyboard, Yamaha TX816 rack-mount synthesizer units, Yamaha DX-7 synthesizer, Fender Rhodes, Minimoog, and few more.

Due to the high musicianship, the personalities of the players, and Corea's colorful compositions, the Elektrik Band quickly became one of the top fusion groups of the late '80s. They recorded six albums before disbanding in 1993, after the “Elektric Band II: Paint the World” album. The original members reunited in 2004 for “To the Stars”, which is stylistically close to the avant-garde and post-bop on “Inside Out” (1990) than to the other Chick Corea Elektric Band releases. They are currently on tour with the classic lineup from the second album “Light Years “ which saw saxophonist Eric Marienthal joining the band and Frank Gambale replacing Henderson and Rios, thus forming the lineup that is now addressed as the classic Elektric Band.