Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Return To Forever
Label: ECM Records
Released: 1972
Rating: 4.5/5
The story of Return To Forever, one of the most distinguished and influential jazz fusion bands of all time, is a story of one-of-a-kind creative feats under the direction of legendary keyboardist and musical innovator Chick Corea. Corea first made a name for himself when, soon after striking out on his own, he helped the legendary jazz trumpeter and perpetual experimenter Miles Davis on the masterpieces “In A Silent Way” (1969) and “Bitches Brew” (1970), where he played one of the key roles in the birth of jazz fusion. Soon after the breakup of Davis’s greatest backing band, though, Corea did what his other famous musical comrades did (Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter and John McLaughlin deserve a special mention here): together with bassist Dave Holland and drummer Barry Altschul, he founded his own avant-garde jazz project, Circle. That avant jazz experiment, however, was doomed to a short life. In 1972, after a religious conversion to the controversial Scientology, Chick felt the urge to “communicate with the audience” as directly as possible. That meant he wanted to make a more accessible kind of jazz. To that end he dropped the avant-garde leanings and went back to fusion with a new backing lineup, Return To Forever. Before long, the name stood for a whole new jazz fusion band that outgrew its solo-project origins and, alongside McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra and Zawinul and Shorter’s Weather Report, became one of the holy trinity of 70s jazz fusion.
The first incarnation of Return To Forever featured, besides Chick, the young bassist Stanley Clarke (apart from Corea, the only constant member across all RTF lineups), an outstanding talent who was then still paving his way toward the jazz legends, plus saxophonist and flutist Joe Farrell, singer Flora Purim and her husband Airto Moreira on drums and percussion (he joined right after working on the Weather Report debut). That lineup (minus Farrell) also played on Stan Getz’s “Captain Marvel”, released the same year. Chick’s electric piano was the centerpiece of their sound from the very start, but Clarke and Farrell played important roles too. Clarke especially, who played electric bass on the first half of the album and upright bass on the second, proved to be a true musical diamond, and it’s no surprise he was the only musician the moody Corea trusted completely throughout RTF’s entire existence (and eventually, quite skillfully, pulled under the Scientology umbrella too, although over the years Clarke shook off that harmful influence, which was also one of the main reasons the band fell apart).
On the self-titled debut, their sound was still heavily steeped in Latin flavor (some sections could even be called Latin jazz), mostly thanks to Flora’s easygoing vocals, which give the album a fair bit of commercial appeal, and Moreira’s percussion work. They later ditched that crowd-pleasing element, once the vocals and winds were gone and the electric guitar came in (their best period), and kept it out almost until the end of the band, but at the start it was an indispensable building block of Chick’s vision of the RTF sound. And even though, unlike the usual jazz fusion tradition, the album is fairly listenable even for less demanding audiences, it doesn’t skimp on long instrumental stretches with complex electric piano arrangements, bravura solo displays on bass and keys, and extended improvisations.
The album came out under the band’s own name, ostensibly as a Chick Corea solo record, but the name of his band was used as the album title, which is why it counts as the start of the Return To Forever discography. All the compositions on the album (except for the improvisation in the closing piece) were written by maestro Corea, who couldn’t resist working some Scientology beliefs into the lyrics (luckily they’re barely noticeable), courtesy of his friend Neville Potter. The opening Latin jazz fusion treat “Return To Forever” is one of the band’s classics. It’s marked by an elegant alternation between instrumental and vocal sections, and the energetic and calmer moments that come with them. The delicate interplay between electric piano and bass is rounded out by a superb flute contribution and the occasional backing vocals from Flora. All of it rests on complex rhythmic patterns that give the piece a seductive Latin touch. After the calmer sections, dominated by Chick’s electric piano and Flora’s vocals, come moments when the whole band kicks in with real energy. Both Corea and Farrell take time for solo showcases. Clarke’s melodic, energetic bass playing ties the sections together beautifully, while Moreira’s drums give the piece momentum and a ton of variety. Flora’s vocals at the end add to the overall air of mystery.
On the instrumental “Crystal Silence”, the dreamiest track on the album, Corea and Farrell take the lead roles. Chick’s calm, elegant electric piano passages are accompanied by Farrell’s saxophone with occasional solo spots. In the background you can also hear some pleasantly lively percussion, which adds to the dreamy mood. “What Game Shall We Play Today?”, with its strong melodic component and Flora’s pleasant vocals, is by far the most commercially accessible track on the album. Here Farrell switches from sax to flute and shows he was every bit as excellent on it. Besides the melodic moments with Flora’s seductive vocals and ever-present Latin rhythms, there’s no shortage of great solo exchanges between Chick and Farrell either.
To close it out comes the 23-plus-minute masterpiece “Sometime Ago/La Fiesta”, which contains three completely different musical sections. The intro first wins you over with a sprawling improvisation led by Chick and Stanley. While Chick pulls off a few great keyboard solos, he’s complemented by Clarke’s rattling bass with occasional solo breaks, and Moreira’s inventive, versatile percussion. When that excellent improvisation ends, the melodic and easygoing “Sometime Ago” section kicks in, with Flora’s vocals and Farrell’s flute soloing. This section again has a strong, almost danceable Latin element. Next comes the great third and final section, “La Fiesta”, one of the jazz standards of Chick’s career. “La Fiesta” means “celebration” in Spanish, and this section really has every ingredient of a festive mood, reflected also in its complex flamenco rhythms. Here all the instrumentalists take time for their solo spots, while Flora joins her husband on percussion. Farrell switches from sax to flute again. The instrumental interplay between the musicians radiates incredible perfectionism the whole way through, which became one of RTF’s trademarks.
“Return To Forever”, even though it totally deserved it, never got wider recognition, since on release it only came out on the European market (in the US it didn’t appear until 1975). Chick failed to reach the broader masses with it, but he created a masterpiece that passes every test of time with ease. Even today the album can be counted as a classic of electrified jazz fusion, one that brings together fans of Miles Davis and early Santana, though it’s nowhere near the peaks of this band, such as “Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy” (1973) or “Romantic Warrior” (1976). Chick and his crew would carry on with the same lineup and a more or less similar musical direction on the next RTF album, “Light As Feather (1972)”, and then, partly under the influence of some progressive rock creations, the time would come for the key change in sound: the arrival of the electric guitar, and with it the birth of some of the studio highlights of the golden age of jazz rock fusion.
Lineup
Chick Corea – electric piano
Stanley Clarke – electric bass guitar, upright bass
Flora Purim – vocals, percussion
Joe Farrell – flute, saxophone
Airto Moreira – drums
Production
Manfred Eicher
Track list
1. Return to Forever (12:06)
2. Crystal Silence (6:59)
3. What Games Shall We Play Today? (4:30)
4. Sometime Ago/La Fiesta (23:13)
Total running time: 45:58
