The Guitar Channel

Return To Forever Returns review at AAJ

John Kelman has written a great review of the new Return To Forever live album Returns for All About Jazz.

All About Jazz Review: Return To Forever - Returns

Return To Forever Returns: Double Live CD to be released March 2nd

Remember Return To Forever's triumphant reunion tour last year? I sure do. Well a live album entitled Return To Forever Returns has been produced from the tour, and it's being released March 2nd. A DVD is in the works as well (no street date yet). I've read on the internets that this album has had a rocky journey on it's way to being released. Regardless - As long as it comes out, that's all that matters. This is one I'll definitely be picking up.

Return To Forever Returns Live (2CD)

Track 1     Opening Prayer
Track 2     Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy
Track 3     Vulcan Worlds
Track 4     The Sorceress
Track 5     Song To The Pharoh Kings
Track 6     No Mystery
Track 7     Romantic Warrior
Track 8     Duel Of The Jester And The Tyrant

Return to Forever interviewed at All About Jazz

Lots of great Return to Forever coverage at All About Jazz lately. They've just posted an interview with all the band members. Really a great piece, check it out.

Return to Forever: Back, Bold and Badass

All About Jazz review - Return to Forever in Cleveland

C. Andrew Hovan has written a great review of Return to Forever's June 24th show in Cleveland for All About Jazz.

All About Jazz: Return to Forever in Cleveland

Review: Return to Forever - Chicago, IL 6/20/08

Return to Forever
The Chicago Theatre
Chicago, IL
June 20th, 2008

The Return to Forever reunion tour is quickly shaping up to the be the jazz event of 2008. Though they haven't recorded an album since the 1970s, this classic groundbreaking fusion band (consisting of Chick Corea - keys, Stanley Clarke - bass, Lenny White - drums, and Al Di Meola - guitar) have been filling concert halls since they first hit the road in late May. I was fortunate enough to see RTF with my father when they played the historic Chicago Theatre this past Friday night, and blown away by the sheer musicianship this band possesses.

The first thing I noticed while we made our way to our seats was the audience. While there were some younger folks in attendance, the age demographic of the crowd seemed skewed to the 50+ set. There are always some older "fuseheads" at the types of shows I see, but this crowd was loaded with them. The band/promoter obviously anticipated this, since the pre-show house music consisted of RTF-era fusion classics such as "Crosswind" and "Proto Cosmos." When the band took the stage, they received the first of many standing ovations. This was an enthusiastic crowd to say the least, but it was the band's own enthusiasm that really struck me. From their opening song onward, the guys were obviously having a great time onstage. They were loose and fun to watch, and their mood definitely rubbed off on the audience. Despite a few technical glitches (e.g., one of Di Meola's amp heads gave up the ghost), the show was fantastic and included many of the band's classic songs over the course of two sets. Di Meola had a couple of his PRS guitars, but he also played his black 1958 Les Paul. This, along with the appearance Clarke's Alembic bass and Corea's Fender Rhodes, added to the evening's "throwback" vibe.

"Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy" and "Sorceress" were big highlights from the first set for me. The fast doubled lines in these and other songs were always tight and punchy. Di Meola had some great solos in these tunes, and was amazing for the entire show. While his patented fast-as-possible triplet patterns always whipped the crowd into a frenzy, I found his mid-tempo lines to be more interesting and dynamic - especially when he would drop in some chromatic or diminished ideas. And his rhythm work was equally impressive. On some songs, such as "Vulcan Worlds," he displayed some of the funkiest, syncopated strumming work I've every witnessed. Take it from me, this guy's right hand is legendary for a reason.

The second set was played with acoustic instruments, and included solo showcases from each band member. Di Meola opened the set with an incredible unaccompanied nylon-string solo, but it was Clarke's acoustic solo spot that really stole the show (or at least the second set). The types of things he played (slapping, amazing fast runs) would be difficult for a lesser player on an electric bass, much less on a giant double bass like Clarke was playing. The term "jaw-dropping" jumps to mind. The second set also included some cool straight-ahead acoustic jazz from the trio of Corea, Clarke, and White.

For the final encore, they played a great version of the Corea standard "Spain." Corea pulled out his "keytar" for this one, and enticed the crowd into a fun call-and-response segment. It was a great ending to a great show. On the way home I had a thought - In this day and age, especially in the United States, which bands or players from the jazz fusion genre can fill a room as prestigious as the Chicago Theatre for a premium ticket price? Return To Forever, with it's lineup of legends, is perhaps the only band currently touring that can pull this off. All jazz and/or fusion fans need to catch this tour if they have a chance. 

The 6/20/08 setlist, as provided by the Return to Forever website:

SET 1
Opening Prayer
Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy
Vulcan Worlds
The Sorceress
Song To The Pharoah Kings

SET 2
No Mystery
Summer Night
The Romantic Warrior
Duel Of The Jester And The Tyrant

Encores
Day Ride
Spain

Check out http://www.return2forever.com for more info on the tour (including pics from this show).

Rich

List all reviews

Return To Forever Live Review at All About Jazz

Geoff Anderson has written a great review of Return To Forever's June 3rd show in Denver for All About Jazz.

Live Review: Return To Forever - Paramount Theater: Denver, Colorado  June 3rd 2008

Return to Forever: The Anthology review at All About Jazz

John Kelman has written a fine review for All About Jazz of the new Return to Forever: The Anthology release.

All About Jazz review - Return to Forever: The Anthology

Return To Forever reunion rehearsal video

From the ReturnToForeverTV channel on YouTube: some cool footage from the first rehearsal for the upcoming reunion tour

Return To Forever tour dates announced!

Finally! Here are the announced dates and locations for the much anticipated Return To Forever reunion tour:

May 29, 2008      Paramount Theatre Austin #1       Austin, TX      
May 30, 2008     Paramount Theatre Austin #2     Austin, TX    
May 31, 2008     Verizon Wireless Arena     Houston, TX    
June 1, 2008     Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie     Dallas, TX    
June 3, 2008     Paramount Theatre Denver     Denver, CO    
June 4, 2008     Kingsbury Hall     Salt Lake City, UT
June 6, 2008     Schnitzer Concert Hall     Portland, OR     TBA    
June 7, 2008     Britt Music Festival     Medford, OR     TBA    
June 8, 2008     The Paramount - Seattle     Seattle, WA    
June 9, 2008     The Centre in Vancouver For Performing Arts    
June 11, 2008     The Grand at the Regency Center #1     San Francisco, CA
June 12, 2008     The Grand at the Regency Center #2     San Francisco, CA
June 13, 2008     Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk     Los Angeles, CA    
June 14, 2008     Dodge Theatre     Phoenix, AZ      
June 17, 2008     Fox Theatre     St. Louis, MO      
June 18, 2008     Holland Performing Arts Center     Omaha, NE    
June 19, 2008     Orpheum Theatre     Minneapolis, MN    
June 20, 2008     The Chicago Theatre     Chicago, IL         
June 21, 2008     Freedom Hill Amphitheatre     Detroit, MI    
June 22, 2008     Murat Theatre     Indianapolis, IN         
June 24, 2008     The Plain Dealer Pavilion     Cleveland, OH
June 25, 2008     Sony Centre     Toronto, ONT, Canada    
June 26, 2008     Ottawa Jazz Festival/Confederation Park     Ottawa, ONT, Canada    
June 27, 2008     Place des Arts - Pelletier Hall     Montreal, QUE, Canada    
June 28, 2008     Saratoga PAC - Freihofers's Jazz Festival     Saratoga Springs, NY    
July 2, 2008     Utenos Arena     Vilnius, Lithuania    
July 4, 2008     Congress Hall     Warsaw, Poland
July 5, 2008     Budapest Arena     Budapest, Hungary    
July 6, 2008     Belgrade Arena     Belgrade, Serbia
July 8, 2008     L'Olympia     Paris, France
July 9, 2008     Vienne Jazz Festival     Vienne, France
July 10, 2008     Via Jazz Festival     Madrid, Spain
July 11, 2008     Cap Roig Festival     Girona, Spain
July 12, 2008     Lorca Festival     Lorca, Spain
July 13, 2008     TBD Valencia, Spain     Valencia, Spain
July 16, 2008     TBD Neuhardenberg, Germany     Neuhardenberg, Germany
July 18, 2008     Montreux Jazz Festival     Montreux, Switzerland    
July 19, 2008     Grugahalle     Essen, Germany    
July 21, 2008     Indigo2     London, England    
July 23, 2008     Nice Jazz Festival     Nice, France
July 25, 2008     TBD San Sebastian, Spain     San Sebastian, Spain
July 30, 2008     The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theatre     Miami, FL    
July 31, 2008     Ruth Eckerd Hall     Clearwater, FL
August 1, 2008     House of Blues Orlando     Orlando, FL
August 2, 2008     Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center     Atlanta, GA    
August 4, 2008     Merriweather Post Pavilion     Columbia, MD 
August 5, 2008     Mann Center for Performing Arts  w/ the Flecktones  Philadelphia,  PA
August 6, 2008     Bank of America Pavilion w/ the Flecktones     Boston, MA    
August 7, 2008     United Palace     New York, NY

Great article on the Return to Forever reunion tour

The Los Angeles Times' Calenderlive.com site has a great article up regarding the upcoming Return to Forever reunion tour. The piece, written by Don Heckman, has details from one of the band's tour rehearsals and photo sessions. More details on the tour will be announced on March 3rd. For the uninitiated - Return to Forever  (featuring Chick Corea - keys, Stanley Clarke - bass, Lenny White - drums, and Al DiMeola - guitar) was one of the most influential jazz-rock bands of the 1970s. This lineup, which has not played together in some 25 years, will be touring the US and Europe this year.

Return to Forever joins the here and now

More info on the 2008 Return To Forever reunion tour

More details have been released on next summer's Return To Forever reunion. The band (featuring Chick Corea - keys, Stanley Clarke - bass, Lenny White - drums, and Al DiMeola - guitar) will play 40-50 dates across North America and Europe. An anthology will also be released in conjunction with the tour featuring remastered tracks from the Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, Where Have I Known You Before, No Mystery, and Romantic Warrior albums. Read the Abstract Logix news post for more info.

Return To Forever to reunite for 2008 tour

The rumors are true: The legendary jazz fusion band Return To Forever will be reuniting for a summer 2008 tour. The lineup will be Chick Corea - keys, Stanley Clarke - bass, Lenny White - drums, and Al DiMeola - guitar. Arguably the most well-known of the various RTF incarnations, this foursome was together from 1973-1976, and produced three records including the incredible Romantic Warrior album in 1976. Exact dates for the reunion tour have not yet been announced.