Chick Corea Elektric Band was a jazz fusion band, led by keyboardist and pianist Chick Corea and founded in 1986 in New York City. The band was nominated twice at the Grammy Awards. The sixth band album, a tribute one named Chick Corea Elektric Band II - Paint the World and released in 1993, received an additional nomination the next year. The group reunited in 2003, and Corea died in 2021.
The band's first line up formed in 1985 and consisted of Dave Weckl (drums) and John Patitucci (bass) alongside Corea. The band recorded and released their eponymous first album in 1986 which included Carlos Rios and Scott Henderson on guitars.
The bandâÂÂs typical line-up was cemented in 1987's Light Years, with Frank Gambale replacing Scott Henderson as a full time member, and saxophonist Eric Marienthal joining the group.
The third album was Eye of the Beholder, released in 1988. The material for the fourth album, Inside Out, released in 1990, was Corea originals. The last album featuring the band's traditional line-up was Beneath the Mask, released in 1991.
For the next album, Elektric Band II: Paint the World released in 1993, only Corea and Marienthal returned from the original line-up. Gary Novak became the new drummer, Jimmy Earl took the bass, and Mike Miller played guitar. The album's style is jazz-oriented.
In 1996, the band recorded a version of "Rumble" from West Side Story for the tribute album The Songs of West Side Story; this saw Weckl and Gambale returning. John Patitucci returned in 2004, restoring the band to its original lineup for To the Stars.
The bandâÂÂs last tour took place in 2018.
Corea died of cancer at his home in the Tampa Bay area of Florida on February 9, 2021, at age 79; he had only recently been diagnosed.