Superstars of jazz fusion make a return visit
Jim Abbott | SOUNDBOARD
August 1, 2008
Reunion tours are all about nostalgia, but that notion is more highly evolved in the case of Return to Forever.
When the definitive lineup of this 1970s jazz fusion group -- pianist Chick Corea, guitarist Al DiMeola, bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White -- plays House of Blues tonight, the songs might be the same, but that doesn't mean they will sound that way.
"It's really hard to put into words," Corea says of the improvisatory turns that occur onstage. After 25 years, it has taken the ensemble a good deal of time just to regain a comfort level with high-flying pieces such as "The Romantic Warrior" and "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy."
"The original spirit of the band has returned full fire, and now what's happening is that each night we're piecing it together," Corea says. "The band is getting stronger and improving every night by leaps and bounds. We had to put together the repertoire pretty quickly, and it was a lot to get together."
In that era, RTF contributed to the push toward rock into jazz, joining Weather Report and a few others in following the lead blazed by Miles Davis and Bitches Brew. I was more of an MF Horn guy, personally, but the intricacy and power of Return to Forever ultimately holds up better.
Remastered tracks on The Anthology, a new two-disc retrospective, are a reminder that the music is characterized by high-energy excursions that are clean-sounding, adventurous, but blessed with enough structure to be accessible.
So what was it like for Corea to listen to the music again after so many years? A mixed bag, he says.
"We made four records together as a band in the '70s, and, as the recordings progressed, we all learned more and more about how to make a good sound on record," Corea remembers. "The first couple records, especially, were really wanting in good sound production, and I think the other guys agreed.
"I always thought it would be nice someday to go back in and redo the sound with all the knowledge that we've gained as musicians and all the audio and technological advances that have happened. Even though we didn't have a lot of time to labor over it, I think we've enhanced a lot of the impact and fire in the original tracks."
Speaking of originals, how about the fans in the audience? A lot of older ones?
"It seems like everybody's in the audience," Corea says. "I haven't taken any surveys, but there are people who are bringing the old '70s LPs to be signed and people who are bringing their kids. I see tots and small boys and girls in the audience.
"Every now and then, one of the guys will mention 'Thanks for coming back and listening to the band,' but it looks to me like most people aren't ones who have come back. They've come to see it newly."
Will there be any new music for the new fans? Although there has been talk of a tour DVD, band members have offered less of a commitment to a studio album of new material.
"Certainly, it's something we'd all like to do," Corea says. "But it was all that we could do to clear our schedules to rehearse and get together for a summer tour, so we're taking it one thing at a time.
"My wish is that we will do much more together and get around, sometime not too far from now, to making new music."
Corea's busy schedule has included an album collaboration with Bela Fleck on The Enchantment, solo dates that included a 2006 stop at Rollins College, and the 2008 release of The New Crystal Silence, a live revisitation of his landmark 1973 album with vibraphonist Gary Burton.
Does Corea consider himself fortunate that jazz has allowed him the freedom to work with such a wide range of musicians? Well, he doesn't define himself as a jazz man, so the answer isn't that simple.
"I never considered myself this kind of musician or that kind of musician," he says. "I grew up in a particular tradition, there's no question, but I think the amount of freedom that a musician takes is a personal thing."
Like its nostalgia, Corea and Return to Forever still make the most of the band's freedom.
