Customer Reviews

Return To Forever

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Corea was at his peak with this '70s release, which brought together his Latin-flavored compositions and writing for singer Flora Purim with his liquid electric piano, Airto's varied gifts on percussion, and the late great Joe Farrell's facility on flute and sax.

One of the approaches to jazz that has unfortunately seemed to pass by the boards is what I'll call extended comp/improv, a blend of formal composition, passages for improvisation and sections that allow for free group interaction. Sonny Rollins and Max Roach were modernists who plowed early ground in this area, and they were followed by, among others, McCoy Tyner, John Handy, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Jack DeJonette, and of course, the master of the form, Charles Mingus. Corea makes a fine contribution to the informal canon with "Sometime Ago/La Fiesta," a hypnotic 23-minute excursion.

For the extended comp/improv to work, all the musicians have to be headed in the same direction without ever losing the sense that there are many paths toward the same goal. "Sometime Ago/La Fiesta" illustrates the beauty of this ideal. Corea, Farrell, and bassist Stanley Clarke all prove their mettle in long, lyrical passages in which they both play and respond to one another. Farrell is particularly inspired on flute and soprano sax, but Clarke will startle you as well with the sounds he gets from his bass.

The rest of the CD? Fine as well, although you might find Purim's vocals an acquired taste. For me, a little generally goes a long way, but on this CD, her voice is tightly interwoven into the compositions and is an asset rather than a distraction.

Those who think of Return to Forever as a rock band will find this record a surprise -- one way or the other. For me, it's vastly superior to the fusion records Corea turned out later in the '70s.

"Return to Forever" is a marvelous album that stands in a genre all its own. Chick Corea has unassailable jazz credentials with his work in Miles' Davis experiments and his fine trio work with Roy Haynes and Miroslav Vitous. Return to Forever is a lyrical album that has beautiful melodies and strong improvisation from Joe Farrell while tastefully melding the Brazilian influences of Flora Purim and Airto Moreira. For me, it's the Brazilian influences that make this such a resounding album. Airto's samba patterns and percussive work on "Return to Forever" and "Sometime Ago" are wonderful. Joe Farrell provides some marvelous flute work on "What Game Shall We Play Today". "What Game" is a very infectious melody that you'll want to play over and over again. Stanley Clarke's stuff is a little more restrained than some of the more rock influenced stuff Return to Forever eventually went into, but his technical chops are still a vital part of this session. Still "Return to Forever" highlights the best of what Chick Corea has to offer, a willingness to please, tasteful use of texture through the electric piano and music that takes risk while still being melodic and affirming. This is one of the best albums I've purchased in the last couple years.

My absolute favorite Chick Corea CDs are _Return To Forever_ and _Light As A Feather_. Both are old classics and both feature Joe Farell, Stanley Clarke. Airto, and Flora Purim. I love the style and the mood of these two albums. I think Chick had something special going on with the Latin concept and the artists of these two CDs. He later diverged with a fantasy concept group called, Return To Forever (nothing to do with this CD), a big mistake in my opinion. Getting back to this CD, the title track, "Return To Forever", is a great composition with phenomenal work by Stanley Clarke and Chick. Flora's surreal vocals and Airto's percussion are a nice touch. "Crystal Silence" is a wonderfully quiet piece with Chick, Joe, and Airto breaking the silence. "What Game Shall We Play Today" is classic Flora Purim. Her performance on this track reminds me of another joyful Purim vocal, "Mountain Train", from her best CD, _Stories To Tell_. "Sometime Ago - La Fiesta", with it's long long intro by Stan, Joe and Chic, and later, Flora's vocals, is a masterpiece. You need to listen to several times to fully appreciate its brilliance. Return To Forever has a unique mood and style that reminds one of innocent jazz musicians, like children, simply having fun playing together. It belongs on every jazz aficionado's shelf.

Corea was barely in his thirties when he recorded this record in February, 1972, after already establishing solid credentials in hard bop (with Blue Mitchell), early fusion (with Miles Davis), free-jazz (with Circle) and improvisional solo piano. On this outing, Corea pioneers a lighter, latin-tinged type of fusion that is much easier to listen to than most of his prior works, yet still maintains all his artistic integrity. Not to be confused with the band "Return To Forever" Chick founded the following year; this music is seven galaxies apart from that (pun intended).

The line-up was very sympathetic to what he was trying to accomplish here. Airto Moreira brings a Brazilian percussionist approach to the drums and the results are fascinating. A young Stanley Clarke is already making his mark as a phenomenal bassist but avoids for being too overpowering for now. Joe Farrell provides the right touches on flute and some pretty, heart-felt solos on soprano sax, while Flora Purim's voice often functions as a perfect companion to Farrell's flute.

Not all the compositions are perfect; the title song's introduction and ending are a little weak, but the two middle portions features some great percussion work from Airto and the interplay between Corea and Clarke bears close listening. "La Fiesta" is rightly considered among Corea's contributions to jazz standards. But my personal favorite is "Crystal Silence", a beautiful duet between Farrell's sax and Corea's Fender Rhodes.

If this recording were done by most other artists, it probably would have earned the fifth star, but Corea was just warming up to his masterwork later that same year with "Light As a Feather". Nevertheless, "Return To Forever" is an essential record in Corea's vast discography. Don't pass it up.

The picture of the bird gliding over the surface of the water is about as honest advertisement for the album as could be made. The music is at once light and graceful yet the reality is that there is a lot of work going on here. Back in 1972 when this was released, this album could have passed as "new age" except there was no such phrase at the time. But RETURN TO FOREVER was in perfect keeping with the image ECM had at the time of high quality playing matched with a somewhat removed and austere air.

But in keeping with the image of "effortless gliding" these four selections tend to put the listener in a relaxed, light and breezy mood. This is saying something because if you actually focus on the music it is quite busy and jam packed with twists and turns along with a distinct "Latin" feel. Chick Corea keeps to the electric keyboard as he used under Miles Davis. Joe Farrell uses both a set of flutes and saxophones to good effect and yet it never strikes one that this is a "saxophone" album. Stanley Clarke and Airto Moreira give a jazz lesson in performing rhythm with taste and in complete service to the band leader. And Flora Purim (never particularly one of my favorites) sings on only two occasions during this album and actually manages to blend her vocals with her band mates in such a way that they become a part of the brew rather than a noise standing apart.

That all being said, this is still very much Corea's album and stands as one of the best he has ever made. Given somewhat to "free jazz" in the past, Corea returned to popular appeal by making a record that was easy to understand and yet off the beaten path. This has over the years led some to dismiss RETURN TO FOREVER as a piece of fluff-ear candy for the more "shallow" jazz audience.

The only thing one can say to this kind of snobbery is: "if it's so easy you do it." But easy or not, it will reward you with each listening.

This album may not be for everyone, but it is a great album. The best song on it is "La Fiesta." The synthesized sounds may take a little getting used to, but the music is genuine and creative. Corea blurs the line between improviser and composer. The side men/women really compliment Corea's ideas in a very coherent way. Joe Farrell is a joy to listen to on sax and flute. If you like this album, you may also like RTF's "light as a feather," as well as "the leprechan," "my spanish heart," and "the mad hatter," by Corea.

This album is the absolute ONLY essencial Return To Forvever album.It's also the first and the one with the closest
links to traditional jazz.Chick Corea plays imaginative electric
piano in a buyount latin-fusion setting on the title song,the
tremendous "Crystal Silence" and the sidelong "Sometime Ago/Le Fiesta"-all matched by Flora Purim's souring vocal flights and
the accompayment of Joes Farrell's fluttering horns and
Stanley Clarkes seldom heard vamping on acoutsic bass.On
"What Game Shall We Play" Flora Purim sings a pretty little
Brazillian dance lyric and rounds out this very listenable
album.Word of warning-this is the pre-Lenny White addition of
Return To Forever and contains NONE of the heavy overplaying that graced the large majority of this fusion band's catolog.
So 'Return To Forever' along with it's followup (also with
Flora Purim) might be all the Return To Forever you'll need.
It also makes a strong point that Flora and her joyously
drumming husband Airto should've remained with this group-they
were never really were the same without them.

When I heard this album, I was amazed by Chick Corea's piano skills. I already owned Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy, which is more of a jazz fusion album than jazz latin, so I didn't really know it was Chick Corea when I first heard it. This album features some wonderful musicians, my favorite being Stanley Clarke, who was what, only 21 at the time?! Joe Farrell shows his amazing verstality of playing both flute and soprano sax. Flora Purim and her husband, Airto Moreira both show musical talent to its maximum. "Return To Forever" is a great insturmental, with excellent melody lines. Corea's solo electric piano breaks lead the song from one section to another. I would say "Crystal Silence" is the weak point of the album, only because of no bass or drums. Just Corea, Farrell soloing on sax, and percussion appearing occasionally. "What Game Shall We Play Today?" is a great song, and I bet it could've topped the charts as a single. Farrell and Corea's melody line flow into Purim's excellent vocals. "Sometime Ago-La Fiesta" shows Corea and Clarke's soloing abilities in the beginning. It's basically free time until around the 7:30 mark. "Sometime Ago", which comes in around 15:30, is great work from the whole band. Clarke locks in a solid bass line from the beginning on his double bass, and Purim's harmony with Corea's electric piano is excellent. Farrell's flute is excellent when it appears. "La Fiesta" I think is the highlight of the album. Corea and Farrell's soprano play the fast melody, while Clarke still keeps the another solid bass line in a flamenco 3/4. Bottom line - this is a must buy album. Definatley on my top 25 albums.

A few weeks ago I had this disk on a home and two of my guests enthusiastically asked about this "new music" that was playing. They were stunned to learn that it was recorded more than 30 years ago. I guess it was the retro-resurgence of the electric piano that fooled them.

"Return to Forever" really is a stunning disk - Chick Corea's self-conscious attempt to write more accessible compositions after more experimental pieces of the late 1960s early 1970s, with a band that spanned the acoustic and emerging electronic frontiers of jazz. That band was a remarkable confluence of backgrounds and talents: reedman Joe Farrell's traditional jazz background, from Brazil Flora Purim and Airto on vocals, drums, and percussion, the teenaged prodigy Stanley Clarke on acoustic and electric bass, and Chick Corea's unique talent for making an electric piano sing. The music that they created was at once challenging, accessible, and joyous. "Return to Forever" together with the companion disk "Light as a Feather" taken from the same recording sessions capture a singular moment that stands with anything that these musicians subsequently produced.

I first came across this album in a used record store two days before graduating high school. The title interested me. I gave it a listen and found it to be pure musical magic! The title song has many changes in mood while displaying Chick's mastery of Latin rhythms. The original version of "Crystal Silence" finds Corea, Farrell, and Moreira in a quiet mood. The original vocal version of "What Game Shall We Play Today" features Flora Purim's unique style of singing, and beautiful instrumental solos. The second half kicks off with a lengthy version of "Sometime Ago" (the original version is found on Chick's PIANO IMPROVISATIONS, Vol. 1). Check out Stanley Clarke's acoustic bass solo, and those Utopian lyrics by Neville Potter! the song bleeds into one of Chick's true classics, "La Fiesta". Chick has an amazing affinity for Spanish music. RETURN TO FOREVER is a true "desert island pick", along with Bob James' TOUCHDOWN, Joe Sample's SPELLBOUND, and Dave Grusin's MOUNTAIN DANCE.