Phil, you've nailed it. In terms of the sonic raw materials, it was truly garbage in (looking at you, Yamaha DX-7) and garbage out – even the best producers couldn't turn those sounds into something rich and interesting. Wondering if anyone has similar feelings about Auto-Tune.
Man, you absolutely nailed it. My first "jazz" experience was seeing RTF at a small club in Philadelphia in 1974. I was 16. I kept listening to Chick's music throughout his career, but there were so many detours along the way. The Elektrik Band was certainly one of them. I bravely clicked on one of the songs you posted and felt like I was instantly transported into an 80s TV show. Thank god Chick passed through this and on to more incredible music.
Aug 16, 2023·edited Aug 16, 2023Liked by Burning Ambulance
While I enjoy a well-turned takedown as much as anyone, and I agree with much of Phil’s criticism of the Elektric Band, I am troubled by the headline – “man without taste” – which is over-the-top, unsupportable and, frankly, disrespectful. Corea’s best music, from, say, Tones for Joan’s Bones to the myriad recordings by the Now He Sings, Now He Sobs trio, to the early solo LPs on ECM and the last trio with McBride and Blade would all be impossible to manifest without often exquisite taste. The issue is not that Corea was a man without taste, but that his taste antennae were not always fully engaged and in certain cases, like the Elektric band, susceptible to catastrophic failure.
The complex and interesting question is: why? I think the roots of his fallibility and inconsistency lay somewhere in the marriage of his Scientology-fueled populism with his honest eclecticism. There’s no sin in sincere populism or eclecticism, but it’s a delicate balance and Corea was unsteady. I wrestled with some of these ideas in the appraisal I wrote after he died. If anyone’s interested, here’s a link. https://ethaniverson.com/chick-corea-1941-2021-by-mark-stryker/
I was just doing some research that led me to a September 1986 issue of Billboard. The "top Jazz albums" chart was exhibit A in the case of "why it took John so long to appreciate jazz." Bob James & David Sanborn, Spyro Gyra, Andreas Vollenweider, Yellowjackets, and Larry Carlton comprise the top 5. Down at #32 is the debut of the Elektric Band. None of this was going to hook my teen-aged ears. It wasn't simply that they were using new technology, it was that they were relying on it. Imagine "Jammin' E. Cricket" played by an acoustic quintet. There is nothing there, just a groove in search of an actual song. The datedness comes not just from the sound, but the lack of substance. It felt like top-tier musicians taking a decade-long powder (ahem) while letting the synths do all the work.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Chick lately, maybe because my Spotify playlists so often come up with his music. I think a very good case can be made that “Now He Sings, Now He Sobs” is the greatest piano trio album ever, by anybody. Whoever else brought Hancock-level musical imagination to Peterson-level virtuosity together so perfectly?
Your piece gives us a lot to think about. Just like Herbie (or Miles for that matter) recorded a ton of forgettable music, it’s what they did at their peaks that really matters. So too with Chick. The crap gets forgotten, the masterpieces never do. Miles playing “Deception” or “Spanish Key” is what matters.
I've got a bit of a soft spot for this stuff, if only because my buddies and I used to laugh our heads off at live videos from this band while in music school (while also envying and aspiring to the technical showmanship, of course). The point about engineers having to start from scratch with new tech is well taken, and reminds me of how video games released at the end of a console's lifecycle tend to be way more polished then the one's that come out at the beginning of the next console's life.
My own philosophy has been if I like it, I like it, if I don't, I don't regardless of genre or era. That being said, I got out of the music industry when DAT hit the market, along with all the associated digital tech that came with it. As you said, wacking a leather couch with a ping pong paddle. Great analogy btw. It all just rubbed my ear wrong until they finally figured out the boundaries. Thanks for such great insight.
I enjoyed your sharp and entertainingly hyperbolic observations, and I feel the same about those machine-made drum and synth sounds from the period. I wonder if their stink will dissipate with time so that people of the future, who lack our bitter associations, will be better able to hear the music. The harpsichord was once a new instrument (in the 16th century), and is inflexible in terms of dynamics and pitch, but JSB rocked those keys and Beethoven even composed his early piano works on it, before he owned a piano. To contemporaries, the harpsichord may have sounded as dead as a LinnDrum does to us now. On the other hand, I still hate the harpsichord.
i never could get into any of that!
Phil, you've nailed it. In terms of the sonic raw materials, it was truly garbage in (looking at you, Yamaha DX-7) and garbage out – even the best producers couldn't turn those sounds into something rich and interesting. Wondering if anyone has similar feelings about Auto-Tune.
This isn't music-related, but thanks for the FA article.
Man, you absolutely nailed it. My first "jazz" experience was seeing RTF at a small club in Philadelphia in 1974. I was 16. I kept listening to Chick's music throughout his career, but there were so many detours along the way. The Elektrik Band was certainly one of them. I bravely clicked on one of the songs you posted and felt like I was instantly transported into an 80s TV show. Thank god Chick passed through this and on to more incredible music.
While I enjoy a well-turned takedown as much as anyone, and I agree with much of Phil’s criticism of the Elektric Band, I am troubled by the headline – “man without taste” – which is over-the-top, unsupportable and, frankly, disrespectful. Corea’s best music, from, say, Tones for Joan’s Bones to the myriad recordings by the Now He Sings, Now He Sobs trio, to the early solo LPs on ECM and the last trio with McBride and Blade would all be impossible to manifest without often exquisite taste. The issue is not that Corea was a man without taste, but that his taste antennae were not always fully engaged and in certain cases, like the Elektric band, susceptible to catastrophic failure.
The complex and interesting question is: why? I think the roots of his fallibility and inconsistency lay somewhere in the marriage of his Scientology-fueled populism with his honest eclecticism. There’s no sin in sincere populism or eclecticism, but it’s a delicate balance and Corea was unsteady. I wrestled with some of these ideas in the appraisal I wrote after he died. If anyone’s interested, here’s a link. https://ethaniverson.com/chick-corea-1941-2021-by-mark-stryker/
I was just doing some research that led me to a September 1986 issue of Billboard. The "top Jazz albums" chart was exhibit A in the case of "why it took John so long to appreciate jazz." Bob James & David Sanborn, Spyro Gyra, Andreas Vollenweider, Yellowjackets, and Larry Carlton comprise the top 5. Down at #32 is the debut of the Elektric Band. None of this was going to hook my teen-aged ears. It wasn't simply that they were using new technology, it was that they were relying on it. Imagine "Jammin' E. Cricket" played by an acoustic quintet. There is nothing there, just a groove in search of an actual song. The datedness comes not just from the sound, but the lack of substance. It felt like top-tier musicians taking a decade-long powder (ahem) while letting the synths do all the work.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Chick lately, maybe because my Spotify playlists so often come up with his music. I think a very good case can be made that “Now He Sings, Now He Sobs” is the greatest piano trio album ever, by anybody. Whoever else brought Hancock-level musical imagination to Peterson-level virtuosity together so perfectly?
Your piece gives us a lot to think about. Just like Herbie (or Miles for that matter) recorded a ton of forgettable music, it’s what they did at their peaks that really matters. So too with Chick. The crap gets forgotten, the masterpieces never do. Miles playing “Deception” or “Spanish Key” is what matters.
I've got a bit of a soft spot for this stuff, if only because my buddies and I used to laugh our heads off at live videos from this band while in music school (while also envying and aspiring to the technical showmanship, of course). The point about engineers having to start from scratch with new tech is well taken, and reminds me of how video games released at the end of a console's lifecycle tend to be way more polished then the one's that come out at the beginning of the next console's life.
Wow, insane 1987 orthodontist's office vibes coming from Jammin E. Cricket. Made me shudder.
My own philosophy has been if I like it, I like it, if I don't, I don't regardless of genre or era. That being said, I got out of the music industry when DAT hit the market, along with all the associated digital tech that came with it. As you said, wacking a leather couch with a ping pong paddle. Great analogy btw. It all just rubbed my ear wrong until they finally figured out the boundaries. Thanks for such great insight.
I enjoyed your sharp and entertainingly hyperbolic observations, and I feel the same about those machine-made drum and synth sounds from the period. I wonder if their stink will dissipate with time so that people of the future, who lack our bitter associations, will be better able to hear the music. The harpsichord was once a new instrument (in the 16th century), and is inflexible in terms of dynamics and pitch, but JSB rocked those keys and Beethoven even composed his early piano works on it, before he owned a piano. To contemporaries, the harpsichord may have sounded as dead as a LinnDrum does to us now. On the other hand, I still hate the harpsichord.