Search - Chick Corea Akoustic Band: Alive on DVD

Essential Akoustic Chick

Jeff Arenson | Colorado Springs, CO United States | 11/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First a few notes about this DVD. The sound and camerawork and both top notch. The performance is different than the "Alive" VHS that was released by GRP back in 1991. The performance is even better than that one because there is an entire concert on this DVD.

Chick Corea's Akoustic band is a true jazz trio. Chick Corea has been playing acoustic jazz standards since he was with Miles Davis back in the '60s. He has written some great jazz of his own. This DVD features both Bop standards as well as original compositions by Chick Corea. Chick is not only a great composer and band leader, but probably the if not one of the greatest jazz pianists to have ever played. I sometimes lose track of this fact, because he always surrounds himself with musicians of his calibre. Every song is a great version. The trio perform the pieces without overperforming the pieces. This isn't an easy feat as each member of the trio is quite possibly the best on his individual instrument. I can't say enough about how amazing the performance is on this DVD. Great jazz by a great jazz trio.

Chick is joined by John Patitucci on bass. Patitucci's playing is great throughout this DVD. He supports the melody brilliantly, has great musical conversations with Dave Weckl and Chick Corea and is an amazing soloist. Dave Weckl handles the drum duties on this DVD. Weckl's playing is absolutely amazing. He is never overplaying, communicates with both Corea and Patitucci and his solos are perfect extensions and compliments to the main meter and syncopations of the pieces. This is an amazing jazz trio and fans of Jazz will not be dissapointed. Chick is all smiles during the pieces and you can see that he is pleased with this performance.

As for the pieces. We have jazz standards by Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane and Duke Ellington. We also have Corea compositions such as "Humpty Dumpty", "Quartet #2 part 2" and "Spain". The trio play each of the standards as if they were their own pieces. Each member shines during his own solo and the interplay between the other members is a revelation. The songs are reworked and extended but they never lose the identity of the original composer. All of the original Corea pieces are played impeccably. "Quartet #2" gives both Corea and Patitucci an unaccompanied solo spot that showcases their individual brilliance. 'Spain' is played in a pure jazz context. The greatness of this piece has never been magnified as well as this version. In fact, all of the Corea compositions are taken to the point of brilliance.

Chick Corea continues to show that he is the single most important jazz musician since Miles Davis. This DVD is an absolute must own for Chick Corea fans. I haven't heard or seen him perform jazz standards or his version of Bop any better than this. I highly recommend this to anybody who likes standard "Jazz"; especially Bop and post-bop."

Akoustic band at their best

Robert Ruthven | Grand Rapids, MI | 02/05/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This DVD was above expectations. The trio is at the height of their performance as the Akoustic band w/ Patitucci and Weckl. I've been a fan for years of the Chick Corea trio work and it was nice to finally have a live performance released on DVD. I still have the 1991 VHS of the Akoustic band in a small club setting that I watch from time to time. Note: this is not that performance, its set in more of a concert hall which appears to be a few years later."