Live at the Maintenance Shop is a 75 minute set from the early incarnation of the Chick Corea Elektric Band filmed at Iowa State University back in 1987. Joining Chick and his rack of electronic keyboards & synths are drummer Dave Weckl & bassist John Patitucci, both of whom would be mainstays in the band over the years. At this time the band was brand new, and not yet joined by Erik Marienthal (sax) and Frank Gambale (guitar), so they performed this exciting set as a trio, with Corea taking most of the solo spots on the songs, save for one lengthy solo each from Weckl and Patitucci. If you are familiar with the early Elektric Band material, then you can expect standout pieces from the debut album like "Sidewalk", "King Cockroach" and "Rumble" here, the group really seeming to enjoy themselves on these melodic but flashy fusion pieces. Each player is a monster in their own right, and they show you the full extent of their skills in this set. As for the quality of the DVD itself, it leaves something to be desired. It looks like it was made from a sub-par source, perhaps a low quality VHS, as there's plenty of grainy spots, and even some audio levels drop out at times, but given the scarcity of footage of this era in the history of the band, you sometimes have to overlook things like this to be able to finally see some of this stuff released. Those who demand high quality and are looking for the ultimate Elektric Band DVD, seek out the Montreux set released a few years back. Otherwise, dig in and enjoy Chick and the boys when it all started.
Track Listing
1) Sidewalk
2) India Town
3) Malaguena
4) King Cockroach
5) Rumble
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