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Reunion Tour: Return to Forever Print E-mail
Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor   
Sunday, 15 June 2008

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One of the most acclaimed fusion bands of all time, Return to Forever has returned! Founded by keyboard legend Chick Corea, RTF’s first reunion tour in 25 years brings the classic quartet edition to the Orpheum in downtown Minneapolis on June 19th as a cosponsored event of the Twin Cities Jazz Festival. Featuring the classic RTF lineup of Corea on keyboards, Al DiMeola on guitar, Stanley Clarke on bass and Lenny White on drums, the evening promises to fill the hall with the hard jamming jazz-rock first ignited by the electric bands of Miles Davis in the late 60s. In conjunction with their summer 2008 tour, RTF has released a two-volume CD of music from the quartet’s seminal records, The Anthology (Concord). 

Bands exploiting the then-new sounds of Jazz/Rock Fusion included Tony Williams’ Lifetime, Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra, Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter’s Weather Report, in addition to Return to Forever. Having worked for Miles Davis through his first forays into fusion (In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew), Chick Corea founded avant garde quartet Circle (with Anthony Braxton, Dave Holland and Barry Altschul).  In 1971, Seeking a band and sound that would attract a more popular following, he soon organized a quintet with Joe Farrell on flute and sax, Airto Moreira on drums, Flora Purim on vocals, and Stanley Clarke on bass. (Clarke would ultimately serve in all three editions of RTF.) Such tunes as “Sometime Ago” and “Crystal Silence” were featured on RTF’s recorded eponymous debut in 1972, followed by the acclaimed Light as a Feather which included Corea’s “Spain,” “500 Miles High,” and “Captain Marvel.” After Moreira, Purim and Farrell left the band a year later, Corea added electric guitar and electric keyboards, bringing on board guitarist Bill Connors for a year (including recording Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy) before filling the guitar chair with young Al DiMeola in 1974. When drummer Steve Gadd declined to tour, Corea brought in funkmaster Lenny White, a cohort from Bitches Brew. Considered the flagship RTF band, these four musicians released the popular LPs, Where Have I known You Before (1974), No Mystery (winner of a 1975 Grammy), and their final studio session, Romantic Warrior (1976). One final edition of RTF emerged, with Clarke remaining on electric bass, the return of Joe Farrell, and new drummer Gerry Brown and vocalist Gayle Moran. Musicmagic was recorded the 1977, followed by RTF Live, shortly before RTF disbanded. The band reunited for a quartet concert in 1983, and now have reconnected to tour in 2008. 

Return to Forever: The Band

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Chic Corea
Chick Corea has won 12 Grammies to date and is known as one of the most prolific composers of the past half century. Born Armando Anthony Corea in Chelsea, Massachusetts, he began piano studies at age four. Surrounded at home by the recordings of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Lester Young and Horace Silver, as well as Beethoven and Mozart, he showed early talent as a composer as well as performer. His stint with Blue Mitchell led to his first project as leader, Tones for Joan’s Bones, while gigs with Cal Tjader, Herbie Mann, Stan Getz and Mongo Santamaria began his career-long interest in Latin music. In 1968, he released his classic Now He Sings, Now He Sobs with Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes. Following a year with Sarah Vaughan, he joined Miles Davis’ electric band, appearing on the fusion classics Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way. Next Corea formed Circle, then RTF in 1971, a natural extension of his work with Miles. His work since RTF has been as diverse as jazz, including electronic ensembles (e.g. Elektric Band), solo piano, classical music (e.g., Mozart sessions with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; Corea Concerto with the London Philharmonic), acoustic duos with such artists as Herbie Hancock and Gary Burton (Crystal Silence, Native Sense), acoustic bands (Akoustic Band, Origin), and Latin ensemble (Touchstone). In 1992, he formed Stretch Records, which became a subsidiary of Concord Records. Recent projects, in addition to the reunion tour with RTF, include duo recordings with Bela Fleck and Gary Burton.

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Al DiMeola
Winner of multiple “Best Guitarist” awards from Guitar Player Magazine, Al DiMeola is a proven master of fusion, flamenco, and global music. A native of New Jersey, he studied guitar and spent free time in local salsa clubs. Heavily influenced by the great Larry Coryell, he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston for a year before replacing Bill Conners in Return To Forever at age 19. Among his many collaborators have been Stanley Clarke, Jean Luc Ponty, Stanley Jordan, Paul Simon, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia. While Di Meola has explored a wide range of styles, his Latin-charged fusion albums have been most popular, while his technical mastery—and particularly his speed—is legendary among modern guitarists and fans alike. With over 20 recordings as leader (including three gold albums), he currently focused on the latest edition of his all acoustic World Sinfonia, dedicated to the music of tango master Astor Piazzolla.

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Stanley Clark©Andrea Canter
Philadelphia native Stanley Clarke is known for his prowess and versatility on both acoustic and electric bass. After graduating from the Philadelphia Academy of Music, he moved to New York City in 1971 where he performed with Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Gato Barbieri, Joe Henderson, Chick Corea, Pharoah Sanders, Gil Evans and Stan Getz. In addition to his sting with Return to Forever, he released several acclaimed recordings in the mid 70s, including Stanley Clarke (1974), Journey to Love (1975) and particularly, School Days (1976); he was the first bassist to headline international tours. He went on to develop a reputation as for scoring for television and film, as well as for his work on the piccolo bass (a bass guitar tuned an octave higher). Over his career he has enjoyed significant collaborations with Pharoah Sanders, George Duke, Al DiMeola, Jean-Luc Ponty, Stewart Copeland and Lenny White. The multi-Grammy winner has also received the BMI Film Music Award and Bass Player Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Most recently, Clarke has toured and recorded with piano legend McCoy Tyner.

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Lenny White
Considered one of the founding fathers of jazz/rock fusion, drummer Lenny White grew up in New York City where he taught himself to play drums. His earliest professional gigs were with Jackie McLean in the late 1960s. In 1969, he appeared on Miles Davis' Bitches' Brew and soon after with Freddie Hubbard on Red Clay before joining Corea's Return to Forever and Azteca in 1972. After RTF disbanded, he formed the group Twennynine and later became one of the Jamaica Boys, a group that included Marcus Miller (bass) and Dinky Bingham (vocals), and worked with all-star groups Echoes of an Era and Griffith Park. Over his career, White has played with Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Gato Barbieri, Gil Evans, Jaco Pastorius, Stan Getz and Buster Williams.

Looking Back With The Anthology (Concord)

The Anthology, a compilation of RTF’s classical recordings released for their summer tour, brings back the sound that pulled many rockers into jazz through the fusion door. “Hymn of the 7th Galaxy” might sum up the rock/jazz fusion ideal--funky, heavy percussion/bass, and in this case even hymnal if otherworldly via electric keys and guitar. Even while it is blowing the lid off, there is a lyrical line rising up from Corea and DiMeola. “Space Circus,” on the other hand, initially offers the celestial side of RTF, a classically informed piano theme soloing early, yielding to the electronics of the band’s arsenal and a funky groove that spills dangerously close to high tech noise. “The Game Maker” heard 30 years later, highlights the innovation of RTF in its day; this track, filled with lovely bubbling phrases before bursting into orbit, is reminiscent of contemporary European fusion bands as is “Vulcan Worlds,” with the pyrotechnic display of Lenny White an album highlight.  

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Retrun To Forever circa 1975
For pure Corea enjoyment, you can’t top the keyboard action of “No Mystery,” filled with majestic (and primarily acoustic driven) phrases that lead into a romantic bowed bass solo, for me the apex of Stanley Clarke’s contribution (likely too tame for fans of the funk and groove RTF signature); similarly Al DiMeola’s lines carry the Latin tinge beautifully. This music sounds as fresh today as in 1975, still worthy of a Grammy, and perhaps more timeless than the more “classic fusion” that covers much of these two discs. Clarke and DiMeola again offer more acoustic, romantic lyricism alongside Corea’s ever-shifting palette on “The Romantic Warrior,” title track of the foursome’s last collaboration. 

The Anthology offers something for everyone interested in Return to Forever, either as an historical record of one of the most influential bands in modern music, or simply as a sampling of the compositional range of Chick Corea and the multiple facets of four unique musical personalities. Perhaps it will lead to a new collaboration on record. 

Looking Ahead: On Tour With Return to Forever

RTF reunion tour continues with a performance on June 19th at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Minneapolis. The band continues on its American tour:

  • June 20, Chicago (Chicago Theater)
  • June 21, Sterling Hills, MI (Freedom Hill Amphitheater)
  • June 22, Indianapolis (Murat Theater)
  • June 24, Cleveland (Plain Dealer Pavillion)
  • June 25, Toronto (Sony Theater)
  • June 26, Ottawa Jazz Festival
  • June 27, Montreal (Place des Artes, Pelletier Hall)
  • June 28, Saratoga Springs, NY (Freihofer’s Jazz Festival)
 
 

In Minneapolis, Return to Forever perform at the Orpheum Theater, 910 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis at 7:30 pm on June 19th as a cosponsored event of the Twin Cities Jazz Festival. Visit Ticketmaster at http://www.ticketmaster.com/venue/49292. For other tour date information, visit www.return2forever.com 
 
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