Send "Return To Forever " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Prefixmag |
 Close your eyes for a second and pretend punk never happened. As its most celebrated practitioners would probably tell you, it was only ever a means to an end anyway. And while the possibilities for which it opened the door certainly justified its Year Zero disavowal of all that had come before, there are a few things it pulled from favor that could have stood a little more shelf life. One of them is the freakish ability to play one's instrument like a 12-fingered Martian virtuoso who spent the last several centuries in an isolation tank soaking up the complete works of everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Oscar Peterson. Fortunately, '70s jazz-rock supergroup Return To Forever reunited just in time to remind us of the thrillingly unearthly pleasures to be derived from such phenomena.In their mid-'70s heyday, Return to Forever's classic lineup of keyboard wizard Chick Corea, guitar demon Al DiMeola, bass titan Stanley Clarke, and drum god Lenny White made some of the most jaw-dropping instrumental music of any genre, and the 2008 reunion tour captured on Returns finds them revisiting those glory days, playing together for the first time in decades. But this is no dusting-off-the-cobwebs historical excercise; these four men remain among the most intense, gifted musicians on the planet, and the electricity that leaps through the air when they clang their sonic swords together is a sort that's long been missing from the modern-day world even if we didn't know it....full text |
| Popmatters |
| The fusion or “jazz-rock” of the 1970s rose at the same time as “progressive rock”, and the two genres shared several sins. Both elevated technique over feeling, giving rise to a pretentious ethic of showing off. Both courted conceptual indulgence as well—long-form compositions, suites about druids, that kind of thing. And both took gifted musicians and tempted them to be key-tar wielding arena stars. Not pretty. When the era passed, it seemed unlikely that fusion and prog-rock would be remembered fondly. But in 2009, playing “Tom Sawyer” on your Rock Band drum kit is all the rage, and—yep --fusion is showing up too. Not that it’s a terrible thing. Chick Corea’s Return to Forever was a terrific fusion quartet in many ways. The rhythm section of bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White could play with flexibility as well as precision, and in Corea the band had a first-class improviser and composer whose feeling for distinctive melody would serve everyone well. The guitar chair was passed around some, but the longest-serving picker was Al DiMeola, a young Berklee wizard who, over time, developed feeling and daring. The group made four albums (recently anthologized) and then blazed out, synthesizers buzzing in the night....full text |
| Return2forever |
| Jazz legends Return to Forever just began their reunion world tour, but the frenzy is already in full swing. The group, back together for the first time in over 25 years, have seen their tour become the jazz event of the year, with rave reviews popping up wherever they go. Check out the Web site for full concert coverage. Here's what we've been reading: "Spontaneous jams and thrilling call-and-response solos . . . At its best, it was like Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz: Four musicians playing four separate songs that fit together like pieces of a puzzle. It was a remarkable return." -- Thor Christensen, Dallas Morning News "Return to Forever is one of the few teams who are both cerebral and funky." -- Austin360.com <http://360.com/> "Whistles and whoops of appreciation erupted after: Clarke's electric bass solo referenced John Coltrane's masterwork A Love Supreme, Lenny White—part Roy Haynes, part Dennis Chambers—snapped out another thunderous groove, and when Corea's keys and Di Meola's strings traded harmonic sixty-fourth notes." -- D.G. Lynch, Austin American Statesman...full text |
Return To Forever lyrics
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