Chick Corea Explains How One Of Return To Forever's Best-Known Songs Was Created
Many Return to Forever Fans pick the jazz supergroup's 'Romantic Warrior' as their favorite RTF album and “Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant” as one of its top tracks. RTF founder Chick Corea, who's back on the road with bandmates Stanley Clarke, Al Di Meola and Lenny White this summer, says it was conceived as the album's centerpiece.
"I wanted to make a grand suite that would feature each guy in the band," Corea says, "and kind of enclose each musician in his own setting, arrangement-wise, rather than everybody blowing over the same thing."
He explains, "It was a fantasy conjuring-up of this duel between the jester and the tyrant, and the idea behind that is that you've got a tyrant who’s a big bully, making big bully sounds and grunting and charging at you, and you've got this jester who’s a real lighthearted guy who’s making a joke out of the whole thing.
"So, who do you think would win?" Corea concludes. "It would be the jester."
Hear “Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant,” from 'Return To Forever: The Anthology (Concord), out May 27th, HERE.
Find out more about the Return to Forever tour and VIP packages that provide exclusive opportunities to meet the band, go backstage or hear a soundcheck at http://www.return2forever.com.
