The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
CD Reviews  |  Classical  |  Live Reviews  |  Music Features

Chick Corea and John McLaughlin | Five Peace Band Live

Concord (2009)
By JEFF TAMARKIN  |  April 21, 2009
2.5 2.5 Stars

090424_Chick_m

Chick Corea and John McLaughlin first encountered each other in Miles Davis's group in the late '60s before taking his electric-jazz lessons and going on to invent fusion with Return to Forever (Corea) and the Mahavishnu Orchestra (McLaughlin). But Five Peace Band represents their first official electric collaboration, and this double CD, recorded live in Europe, is the first fruit of the union.

It's some band, too, with the versatile Christian McBride on bass, the audacious Kenny Garrett on sax, and the mighty Vinnie Colaiuta on drums. Yet for all their chops, this release is devoid of soul or spark. Solos — lots of them — are well constructed and impeccably executed but rarely inspired.

The band navigate changes deftly, but they seldom suggest that they're anything but a quintet of virtuosos hanging out till something closer to their hearts comes along. When they click, as on Corea's new "Hymn to Andromeda" — a near-half-hour excursion that recalls fusion before excesses killed the genre — and on Jackie McLean's "Dr. Jackle," the result hints at greatness. But the two nods to Miles, "In a Silent Way/It's About That Time" (with Herbie Hancock guesting on piano) and "Someday My Prince Will Come" (done as a guitar-piano duet), are safe and short on originality.

FIVE PEACE BAND | Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass Ave, Boston | April 30 @ 8:15 pm | $35-$70 | www.ticketmaster.com  [officially sold out]

Related: Meet the Beatles!, The long view, In action, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Music, Jazz and Blues,  More more >
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
Comments

[ 11/26 ]   Cartells  @ Wolf Den @ Mohegan Sun
[ 11/26 ]   "Thanksgiving Night of Super Stars"  @ Roxy
[ 11/26 ]   Orch Septentrional  @ Moseley's on the Charles
[ 11/26 ]   "Mash-Ups & Top 40"  @ Wonder Bar
[ 11/26 ]   "Signature Thursdays"  @ Rumor
ARTICLES BY JEFF TAMARKIN
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   TOM WAITS | GLITTER AND DOOM LIVE  |  November 17, 2009
    Arriving five years after his last release of new material, and two after the three-disc Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards box of outtakes and oddities, this live set culled from assorted 2008 gigs could be seen as a time marker.
  •   ROSANNE CASH | THE LIST  |  September 28, 2009
    In 1973, when she was an 18-year-old rock fan, Rosanne Cash's dad gave her a list of songs he felt she should know — mostly country, all falling under the current banner Americana. She held onto that list, and now she's recorded a dozen tunes from it.
  •   REVIEW: BEBEL GILBERTO | ALL IN ONE  |  September 24, 2009
    There couldn’t be a more apropos title than the one Bebel Gilberto has given her fourth album.
  •   GEORGE THOROGOOD | THE DIRTY DOZEN  |  July 22, 2009
    Before you press PLAY, you know what you're going to get on The Dirty Dozen : music to drink lots of beer by.
  •   SON VOLT | AMERICAN CENTRAL DUST  |  July 15, 2009
    With American Central Dust , Jay Farrar has now accomplished something he was unable to do either during Son Volt's initial run (1995-99) or his evidently aborted solo career (2001-04): released three consecutive albums of undeniable quality.

 See all articles by: JEFF TAMARKIN

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group