JAZZ REVIEW : Akoustic Band Creates Elektricity : At the Coach House, Chick Corea’s acoustic trio charges through standards with the fervor one might expect from the artist’s Elektric Band.

Chick Corea’s two bands, Akoustic and Elektric, have more in common than their quirky name spellings. Though the acoustic trio stuck mainly to standards during its appearance Monday at the Coach House, it charged the familiar tunes with the kind of urgency and rhythmic aggressiveness that has marked Corea’s electric work since the days of “Return to Forever.”

There were no mellow ballads or considered, introspective treatments of the kind fellow keyboardist Keith Jarrett and his Standards Trio give to the chestnuts. Instead, Corea’s outfit charged straight in, running roughshod over themes and generally stirring up trouble at every turn.

The tunes--”On Green Dolphin Street,” “How Deep Is the Ocean?,” “Sophisticated Lady”--began with Corea’s unaccompanied introductions, exercises in dynamics and embellishments as he put his signature on the melodies. He tinkered with “‘Round Midnight,” teasing and goosing Monk’s lines before breaking into a stride rhythm. His solo during “With a Song in My Heart” was agitated and full of dissonant twists.

Bassist John Patitucci (who, like drummer Dave Weckl, also is in the Elektric band) proved a witty complement to Corea’s explorations, pushing from beneath with rhythmic echoes and a nimble, light-on-his-feet walk. Patitucci mined the melodies for his own solos, stating his case in crisp, well-pitched tones from the upper register, adding searing runs that seemed to climb right off the neck of his instrument.

Though Weckl’s muscular approach might seem more appropriate for the Elektric Band, the drummer provided the same kind of insistent drive that Tony Williams brought to Miles Davis’ last acoustic bands. Never content just to ride the beat, Weckl varied his sound with tom-tom rolls and cymbal play.

The opening act, Minimum 3, a band that usually plays its own fusion material, chose instead to play standards as well, most from the John Coltrane book. Drummer Evan Stone, guitarist Gannin Arnold, keyboardist Josh Levy and bassist Dave Moore (the group added saxophonist Doug Webb for “Impressions”) played a competent set, highlighted by Stone’s solid stick work, that provided an interesting contrast to the technical mastery and smooth interplay of the Corea band.

The Chick Corea Akoustic Band plays Thursday at the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, (800) 266-2378.