Return To Forever - The Essential Return To Forever '2014

Tracks list

Tracklist:

01. Return to Forever
02. Medieval Overture (Instrumental)
03. Sorceress (Instrumental)
04. The Romantic Warrior (Instrumental)
05. Majestic Dance (Instrumental)
06. The Magician (Instrumental)
07. Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant ) ((Pt. 1 & Pt. 2) [Instrumental])
08. Musicmagic
09. The Endless Night
10. The Musician (Live)
11. So Long Mickey Mouse (Live)
12. Serenade (Live)
13. The Moorish Warrior and Spanish Princess (Live)
14. Spanish Fantasy (Live)
15. On Green Dolphin Street (Live)


 Read Full BiographyLight as a FeatherThe band toured Japan and recorded a
second album, Light as a Feather, in London, using some of the songs Corea had
written and recorded with Getz, such as 500 Miles High and Spain. It was
released on Polydor Records. Up to this point, Return to Forever were more
notable for their Latin sound than for fusion, but when Farrell left in the
spring of 1973, Corea replaced him with a rock guitarist, Bill Connors from
Spiral Staircase. Moreira and Purim also left to form their own group, and Corea
brought in drummer Steve Gadd and percussionist Mingo Lewis, unveiling the new
lineup at the New York City nightclub the Bitter End in April. They then cut a
new album, but when it became apparent that Gadd, a successful session musician,
wasnt interested in touring, Corea replaced him with Lenny White of the rock
band Azteca, who changed the sound sufficiently that the band went back into the
studio in August 1973 and recut the album, which was released in October under
the title Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy. Here, Return to Forever turned decisively
toward progressive rock and fusion, with Corea employing an extensive set of
synthesizers. The result was crossover commercial success; the album spent
several months in the pop charts.

Where Have I Known You BeforeIn 1974, Connors left the group and was replaced
initially by Earl Klugh, though only for a tour. The permanent replacement was
19-year-old Al di Meola, who left the Berklee School of Music to join the band.
That summer, Return to Forever recorded their fourth album, Where Have I Known
You Before, which was released in September. Backed by an extensive tour that
ran through December and closed at Carnegie Hall, the album reached the pop Top
40 and remained in the charts more than five months. The band went back into the
studio in January 1975 and quickly cut its fifth album, No Mystery, which was
released in February. It too made the Top 40, though it charted for only three
months. It also won the 1975 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Group.
Corea signed Return to Forever to Columbia Records, while remaining at Polydor
as a solo artist. Romantic Warrior, a concept album on medieval themes, was the
first Return to Forever album not to be co-billed to Corea on the original LP.
Released in March 1976, it became the bands third consecutive Top 40 hit and
went on to become its biggest seller, eventually earning a gold record. But with
its completion, Corea again changed stylistic direction and disbanded the
lineup.

MusicmagicRetaining Clarke as always, Corea immediately re-formed Return to
Forever, adding his wife, Gayle Moran, formerly of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, on
vocals and keyboards, returning member Joe Farrell, and drummer Gerry Brown,
along with a horn section consisting of trumpeters John Thomas and James
Tinsley, and trombonists Jim Pugh and Harold Garrett. With this personnel,
Return to Forever recorded their seventh album, Musicmagic, which was released
in March 1977. It became the bands fourth consecutive Top 40 album, spending
more than four months in the charts. A third trombonist, Ron Moss, was added for
the tour.

Live: Complete ConcertOn May 20-21, 1977, Return to Forever recorded a live
album at the Palladium Theater in New York City, but Corea disbanded the group
after the tour. Live was released in February 1979, when it spent a month in the
charts. (This was the single LP version; the show was also released as a triple
LP, Live: The Complete Concert, which was later reissued as a double CD, Live.)
In 1983, Corea reassembled Clarke, di Meola, and White for a tour. And after 25
years, Return to Forever reunited again for a tour of North America and Europe
that began in Austin, TX, on May 29, 2008. Corea, Clarke, di Meola, and White
scheduled approximately 50 dates through August 7 of that year.

Return to Forever have ultimately come to be viewed as a chapter in the career
of Chick Corea, who was sometimes given sole credit on CD reissues of their
albums. In its time, the group rose and fell according to the popular and
critical response to jazz fusion in general, gaining accolades and healthy sales
early on, but suffering from the backlash that all progressive jazz endured
after the 1970s, when musical trends turned conservative and the remnants of
jazz-rock mutated into smooth contemporary jazz. Also, Return to Forever have
fallen between stools in terms of music criticism, with hidebound jazz critics
dismissing them as too much like rock music, while rock critics think of them as
a jazz group. As such, there is a tendency to undervalue the bands real musical
accomplishments, which, however, remain available to be heard on the records. ~
William Ruhlmann

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