Chick Corea: Light Years (1987)

Light Years

Chick Corea, Frank Gambale, Eric Marienthal, John Patitucci, Dave Weckl

What a masterpiece from Chick Corea (keyboards). Truly, this is the most satisfying music to listen to. The type of music that you would dream of writing, and playing. Every piece is so catchy, it just sticks in your mind all day. What a great bass player, an inspiration. Patitucci (bass) is one of my bass idols. Combined with drumming genious, Dave Weckl (drums), they form a powerful rhythm section. What I love about this music is there is so much going on that you could never completely analyse it purely by listening to it. The overall sound of the music, however, is not cluttered. Every musician has delicately crafted every solo section, lick, drum fill and stab.

The title track, “Light Years” (track 1), opens the album with a drum stab, transitioning to a keyboard groove. The funk style bass comes in with an extended bass trill, leading into a very cool, funky slap groove, which I will call the A section. This tune is very bass guitar, and drums oriented, which is what I like! The B section introduces a different rhythm and feel to the tune, with a more keyboard heavy feel. This tune is structured very well, with the electric guitar (Gambale) and saxophone riffs coming in on the second A. Hearing the saxophone entrance for the first time was a joy. The lines that Marienthal (saxophone) played were very smooth, melodic, and flowing; and each note was crisp and clean.

“Second Sight” (track 2), is very keyboard heavy. The bass pulls back for this tune, and lays down some tasteful fingerstyle bass lines, allowing himself to be in the background, and underneath the rest of the band. It has a very musically satisfying melody, especially when Marienthal comes in (he has such a great sound). It’s great to listen to the rest of the band when solos are taking place. When Eric is soloing, the rest of the band maintains that smooth, tight funk sound, but at the same time keeps the focus on the soloist. I noticed that Patitucci kept his bass lines simple (yet complex!), and rarely varies them, so that the listener will get used to hearing his line, or phrase, and won’t be readily distracted because of it.

I really like “Prism” (track 4), because of the more subtle things that were introduced into it. For instance, Corea changed his keyboard setting to a blown-bottle sound. Patitucci and Corea communicated with each other, musically, playing short, melodic phrases. This kept the flow of the melody, and kept it from becoming dull and lifeless. The song is very laid back (in comparison to the rest of the album), but the band still manages to incorporate syncopated stabs into the melody.

“Time Track” (track 5): Once again, Patitucci demonstrates his creativity by coming up with melodic funk bass lines. The opening section for this particular tune has been, rhythmically, placed on John. At the same time, the melodic instruments are playing simple chords. I really like it how John keeps the groove standard for this piece high, and continues to play slap style underneath sax, and keyboard solos. What an amazing outro!

“Kaleidoscope” (track 12): Stabs galore; guitar, keyboard, and saxophone chops. What more could you want in a song? The rhythm section create a feel, and everyone else goes nuts! It starts off with, what appears to be, a combination of live, and electronic drums. And for the final time, Patitucci lays down some juicy funk bass grooves. This track builds from start to finish, except of course when it fades out during Weckl’s solo! Never mind, it was a great closing track.

The only thing that I didn’t like about this album was the frequent use of fade-outs in the tunes. Sometimes its a good way to end a piece, but you make it difficult for yourself when it comes to playing the songs live. If you want inspiring music, and an example of musically technical brilliance, then get this album. Every bass player should get this album. John Patitucci dominates this album. I highly recommend it to anyone. Get it!

I gave this album, overall, a 7 out of 10.

That’s all for now. If you have any questions about this album, or music general, please feel free to contact me. I hope this has been an inspiring read! Thanks as always.

Talk to you soon,

Jared