Return to Forever (Chick Corea album)

Return to Forever is a jazz fusion album by Chick Corea, simultaneously functioning as the debut album by the band of the same name. Unlike later albums by the group, it was released by the ECM label and produced by Manfred Eicher. The album was not released in the USA until 1975. The record is often considered one of the classic albums in electric jazz.

Description

At this stage Corea's approach to jazz fusion was very different compared to other early fusion artists. Adventurous electric piano solos are backed with South American oriented rhythms of drummer Airto Moreira and the vocals and percussion of his wife Flora Purim. Stanley Clarke is the bassist of the group (playing electric bass on A-side and double bass on B-side) and Joe Farrell plays flute and saxophone. This first line-up of Return to Forever consists of musicians (excluding Joe Farrell and Flora Purim) that were also playing on Stan Getz's album Captain Marvel that was released in the same year.

The first track can be divided into five parts. There are three short parts in which Corea plays simple, haunting melodies with Purim doubling them with her voice. Between these three parts there are two longer parts in which the whole band plays. These main parts are both based on their own riffs. Farrell plays a flute solo over the first main part and Corea plays solo over the second. Moreira's drum pattern gives the composition an airy feeling of its own. Purim sings along with riffs, screaming a bit towards the end.

The second track, "Crystal Silence", is Corea's song. The track is played just by Corea and Farrell with some soft percussion in the background. Farrell performs a long saxophone solo. Third track, "What Game Shall We Play Today?", is another of Corea's songs. It has a very affectionate melody and Purim singing vocals. Farrell is now playing the flute. Corea and Farrell give short solos between the second and the third verse. The band would return to this song during the Light as a Feather sessions later in 1972, when they made four attempts with it; though the song did not make it to the album, all the takes appeared on the expanded edition of Light as a Feather.

The B-side of the album has only one track which consists of three different pieces of music. Probably they have been recorded without breaks and this is the main reason why they are not separated on three individual tracks; the bass lines skilfully link them together as well. The first seven minutes of the track consist of an improvised introduction featuring Corea, Farrell and Clarke, slow-paced and feeling akin to a Chinese landscape painting. As this section closes the piece moves into "Sometime Ago". It is a Latin flavored song with Purim's vocals and Farrell soloing on flute. After that song Farrell switches to soprano saxophone and the band plays "La Fiesta", one of Corea's jazz standards. Corea has written that most Spanish songs deal with matters such as misery or torture but "La Fiesta", however, is about celebration. The song is an instrumental piece that relies on flamenco modes.

Track listing

All tracks are composed by Corea except where noted.

Side A
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Return to Forever"	12:06
2.	"Crystal Silence"	6:59
3.	"What Game Shall We Play Today" (Corea, Neville Potter)	4:30

Side B
No.	Title	Length
4.	"Sometime Ago - La Fiesta" (Corea, Potter, Stanley Clarke, Joe Farrell)	23:13

Personnel

Flora Purim – vocals, percussion
Joe Farrell – soprano saxophone, flute
Chick Corea – electric piano, Fender Rhodes
Stanley Clarke – acoustic bass, electric bass
Airto Moreira – drums, percussion

Guests

Manfred Eicher - Producer
Tony May - engineer

Chart performance

Year	Chart	Position
1975	Billboard Jazz Albums	8^[3]

External links

Return to Forever (Chick Corea album) at Discogs (list of releases)

References

↑ Huey, Steve (2011). "Return to Forever - Chick Corea | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
↑ Swenson, J. (Editor) (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 50. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
↑ "Return to Forever - Chick Corea | Awards | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 27 October 2013.

Return to Forever

Chick Corea Stanley Clarke Lenny White Frank Gambale Jean-Luc Ponty Joe Farrell Airto Moreira Flora Purim Bill Connors Steve Gadd Mingo Lewis Earl Klugh Al Di Meola Gerry Brown Harold Garrett Gayle Moran James E. Pugh John Thomas James Tinsley Ron Moss

Studio albums	Return to Forever Light as a Feather Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy Where Have I Known You Before No Mystery Romantic Warrior Musicmagic

Live albums	Return to Forever Live / ...Live: The Complete Concert Returns The Mothership Returns

Compilations	The Best of Return to Forever (1980) Sony This is Jazz, Vol. 12 (1996) Sony Return to the Seventh Galaxy: The Anthology (1996) Verve Return to Forever: The Anthology (2008) Concord Return to Forever: The Complete Columbia Albums Collection (2011) Sony

Videos	Return to Forever: Returns - Live at Montreux (2009)

Related	Captain Marvel (1972) Verve Forever (Corea, Clarke & White) (2011) Concord

Chick Corea (discography)

As leader	Tones for Joan's Bones Now He Sings, Now He Sobs Is Sundance The Song of Singing A.R.C. The Leprechaun My Spanish Heart The Mad Hatter Secret Agent Friends Tap Step Three Quartets Trio Music Touchstone Again and Again Summer Night: Live Chick Corea Akoustic Band Alive Time Warp Rendezvous in New York The Ultimate Adventure Super Trio Five Peace Band Live The Vigil Trilogy

Solo albums	Piano Improvisations Vol. 1 Piano Improvisations Vol. 2 Delphi I Delphi II & III Expressions Children's Songs Solo Piano - Originals Solo Piano - Standards

Collaborations	Super Nova An Evening With Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea: In Concert CoreaHancock Chick Corea & Lionel Hampton in Concert Voyage Play The Mozart Sessions The Enchantment Duet

with Gary Burton	Crystal Silence Duet In Concert, Zürich, October 28, 1979 Lyric Suite for Sextet Native Sense - The New Duets Like Minds The New Crystal Silence Hot House

with Circle	Circling In Circulus Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert Paris Concert Circle 2: Gathering

with Miles Davis	Water Babies Filles de Kilimanjaro In a Silent Way Bitches Brew Jack Johnson Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East Circle in the Round Live-Evil On the Corner Big Fun Bitches Brew Live

with Elektric Band	The Chick Corea Elektric Band Light Years Eye of the Beholder Inside Out Beneath the Mask Live From Elario's (First Gig) To the Stars

with Joe Farrell	Joe Farrell Quartet Outback Skate Board Park

with Stan Getz	Sweet Rain Captain Marvel

with Herbie Mann	Latin Mann Afro to Bossa to Blues Standing Ovation at Newport The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd Monday Night at the Village Gate

with Blue Mitchell	The Thing to Do Down with It! Boss Horn

with Origin	Live at the Blue Note A Week at The Blue Note Change corea.concerto – Spain For Sextet & Orchestra – Piano Concerto No.1

with Return to Forever	Return to Forever Light as a Feather Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy Where Have I Known You Before No Mystery Romantic Warrior Musicmagic Live Returns Forever [as Corea, Clarke & White] The Mothership Returns

with others	The Laws of Jazz Flute By-Laws Moto Grosso Feio Turkish Women at the Bath The Creeper Merry-Go-Round Going to the Rainbow Round Trip Echoes of an Era Big Band Elektric Band II: Paint the World

Compilations	Inner Space The Complete "Is" Sessions

Soundtracks	Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown

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