I went through my jazz-fusion phase back in the late '80s and was introduced to the likes of Stanley Clarke, Larry Carlton, Al DiMeola, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, and of course Chick Corea and his work with Return To Forever and the Elektric Band. I was always more of a fan of guitar-driven jazz, which is why a lot of the jazz-rock fusion stuff was most appealing to me. The first Elektric Band album featured Carlos Rios and Scott Henderson on guitar, and the next five featured Frank Gambale. In 1993, Paint The World would be released under the moniker Elektric Band II, featuring Mike Miller on guitar, and cementing the fact that Corea is one of the finest purveyors of guitar talent in the business.

Corea, of course, cut his teeth in the jazz big leagues as the keyboardist in Miles Davis' band, appearing on his seminal In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew albums of 1969. The first Elektric Band album appeared in 1986 and featured the original lineup of Corea, John Patitucci on bass, Dave Weckl on drums, and Henderson and Rios on guitars. By the second album, Light Years, the lineup that appears on this DVD, and the rest of the Elektric Band albums, was fully intact, consisting of Corea, Patitucci, Weckl, Gambale, and Eric Marienthal on sax. If you are into this type of jazz-fusion then you are in for one hell of a treat, because each of these musicians are arguably the best there is on their respective instruments.

This style of music is certainly an acquired taste and may be difficult for many rock and casual jazz fans to digest. It is definitely "musicians music". No verse-chorus-verse, no singing, and no pretty melodies to get in the way of the virtuosity on display - just some straight-up, world-class, jazz-fusion at its finest with plenty of space for the musicians to strut their stuff. Personally, I need to be in the right kind of mood to listen to this music. More often, I find it a little too cold and fatiguing, and I eventually end up craving something with a little more soul. It must be absorbed in small doses.

Well, clocking in at nearly three hours, Live At Montreux 2004 is certainly no small dose. For the entire first set of the show, Corea leads the band through the majority of their latest album, 2004's To The Stars, which is essentially a space-themed concept album based on the science fiction novel, of the same name, by the late Scientology prophet L. Ron Hubbard. Here lies the main problem. Although there are a few shining moments, this is probably the weakest album by the Elektric Band, yet it takes up the entire first half of the show, which lasted 67 minutes.

I was kind of shocked when I first saw Frank Gambale. He's now sporting a completely shaved head and about 30 extra pounds since the last time I saw him. The man they call the "Thunder from Down Under" certainly still possesses the same lightning fast guitar chops as ever though. He also sits down with an acoustic a few times, most notably on the new "Alan Corday" and the classic "Eternal Child", and performs with equal passion. John Patitucci still looks like he is 24 years old, but he plays with the skill of a man who has been playing for 24 years - 24 hours a day. The guy is a marvel to watch, and you get plenty of great close-ups of his fretwork. Dave Weckl is easily one of the best jazz drummers in the world and he was simply amazing throughout.