The Return Of Return To Forever
And a glorious return it was! The 2008 reunion tour of Return To Forever is now over and I was lucky enough to catch the final show this past Friday, August 8, 2008. The show was the second at the United Palace Theatre in Washington Heights. Just to clarify, this reunion featured the classic, mid ‘70s lineup of Return To Forever - founding member Chick Corea on keyboards, fellow charter member Stanley Clarke on bass, Al DiMeola on guitar and Lenny White on drums. There have been other lineups with numerous musicians coming in and out of Return To Forever during their 1972 to 1977 run and I will get into that later. As for now, the focus is on Corea, Clarke, DiMeola and White! It was great to see these guys together again. It was the first time they’d played as Return To Forever since an brief 1983 reunion tour.
Before the show, strains of the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Miles Davis could be heard in the theater. Then the lights went down and a selection from Miles Davis’ legendary 1968 album In A Silent Way was played(which Chick Corea played on). The crowd went nuts when Chick, Stanley, Al and Lenny appeared. Chick greeted the crowd and explained that this was the last show of a very special reunion. He genuinely sounded moved by the opportunity to play with his old friends again. In fact, throughout the evening, the band members took turns between numbers to express how thankful they were to be playing with one another again and to say how much fun the tour had been. It was one Return To Forever love fest!! Each member also thanked folks who played a role in their musical development and lives. Many of these individuals were in the crowd. Chick Corea pointed out jazz legend Roy Haynes who was in the audience! Oh yeah, then there’s the music. Words can’t express the abilities these four virtuosos have! The endless interplay, improvisation and soloing was mind boggling. The show was split into a long first half and a shorter second half, which began acoustic. At the end of the one song encore, the band came out front and were joined by family, friends and crew as they all said goodnight and thanks. It was a nice finale to a special reunion. Even Roy Haynes and actor Laurence Fishburne came on stage! Laurence grabbed the mike to coax more cheers from the crowd and get the band to come out and play one more - a special second encore just for this night! There was lots of R2F love in the theater!
Here is the set list for this final show, according to the band’s website:
FIRST SET
opening prayer (I’m not sure if this was the Miles Davis music playing when the band took the stage)
“Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy” (Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy, 1973)
“Vulcan Worlds” (Where Have I Known You Before, 1974)
“Sorceress” (Romantic Warrior, 1976)
“Song To The Pharoah Kings” (Where Have I Known You Before, 1974)
SECOND SET
“No Mystery” (No Mystery, 1975)
“Summer Night” (I believe this was something Chick Corea did outside of Return To Forever.)
“The Romantic Warrior” (Romantic Warrior, 1976)
ENCORE
“Duel Of The Jester And The Tyrant (Part I and Part II)” (Romantic Warrior, 1976)
There is no mention of what song was performed during the second encore.
The concert took place at the 78 year old United Palace theatre on Broadway and 175th Street. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a theater as ornate as the United Palace. Every inch of this place is plastered in intricate gold so over the top, it’s mind boggling. Despite it’s majestic glory, the place also seems dulled and dusty, like it’s in need of a good power washing! One note for those who might attend a future event there - the parking is atrocious. The neighborhood is not capable of handling the flood of cars that invade the area when there is a well attended show. Two small parking garages cannot accommodate everyone and you have a very congested scene driving the city blocks. We were lucky to score a space in one of the garages, but, retrieving our car after the show took approximately two hours.
As for Return To Forever’s history, it all started in 1971 when keyboardist Chick Corea recruited bassist Stanley Clarke, Joe Farrell on sax and flute, percussionist Airto Moreira and his wife, vocalist and percussionist Flora Purim. Initially, the band’s sound was a gentle, breezy blend of electric jazz and Brazilian and Latin rhythms Their first album was recorded in 1972 and titled Chick Corea Return To Forever, but it wasn’t released in the U.S. for a few years. It was the second album which was our introduction to the band. That second album, credited to Chick Corea and Return To Forever and released later in 1972, was called Light As A Feather. After this second album, personnel changes steered the band in a different direction. Flora Purim, Airto Moreira and Joe Farrell were gone and, ultimately, drummer Lenny White and electric guitarist Bill Connors were added. The new members brought a harder, rock oriented approach to Return To Forever’s sound, as evidenced on the 1973 album Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy, which was credited to Return To Forever featuring Chick Corea. Bill Connors would leave after one album, with the band ultimately welcoming 19 year old guitarist Al DiMeola for the 1974 album Where Have I Known You Before, again credited to Return To Forever featuring Chick Corea. This “classic” lineup, which is the one participating in this year’s reunion, would also appear on the next two albums - 1975’s No Mystery (by Return To Forever featuring Chick Corea) and 1976’s Romantic Warrior, the band’s best selling album. Following Romantic Warrior, Chick Corea dismissed White and DiMeola, and with his reliable partner Stanley Clarke still on board, assembled a new Return To Forever, which they did by adding Gerry Brown on drums, Corea’s wife Gayle Moran on vocals and keyboards, welcoming back original member Joe Farrell and adding a horn section featuring John Thomas, James Tinsley, Harold Garret and Jim Pugh. The revamped Return To Forever can be heard on their final studio album, Musicmagic, and the live album Live (with Ron Moss joining the horn section), both from 1977.
This 2008 reunion of the Corea, Clarke, White and DiMeola lineup is accompanied by a new compilation album, simply called The Anthology. It has already been announced that this reunion tour will be documented on a live DVD to be released “soon”!
