TV Reviews : Chick Corea’s Elektric Band Makes Sparks Fly

The principal reason for the superiority of Chick Corea’s Elektric Band over many other fusion groups is the technical proficiency of the participants. “Chick Corea Elektric Band,” taped mainly at the Pabellon Deportivo del Real in Madrid and airing on the Bravo cable channel at 8 tonight and again at 2 a.m., brings this factor to the forefront.

Most of Corea’s tunes rely as much on the rhythmic background as on their melodic lines. “Rumble,” on which he plays synclevier, finds Dave Weckl, the brilliant percussionist, keeping up a hypnotic 16-beat pulse. “King Cockroach” is a sensitive collaboration by Corea on Rhodes keyboard and John Patitucci on electric bass. The latter is a formidable presence, doubling here and there on upright bass. Scott Henderson on guitar completes the group.

A questionable inclusion throughout the hour is the use at irregular intervals of four black dancers, dressed in 1940s-style dark suits and performing as if they haven’t heard the music; their rhythms don’t seem to correspond.

The finale is anticlimactic, as Corea plays “Spanish Way” and encourages a sing-along by the audience. Sound quality is fine, and the camerawork ingenious; on one tune the effect is like looking at a photographer’s contact sheet as the picture moves frame by frame across the screen. But this too was expendable; what counts is the cohesion of the four musicians. Their rhythmic-unison passages in “Got a Match?” may remind you of the fan who once told a high-flying musician: “Hold it, man! I can’t listen that fast!”