The Mothership Returns

Last updated
The Mothership Returns
RTF The Mothership Returns.jpg
Live album by
ReleasedJune 18, 2012
RecordedJuly 12, 2011,
September 13, 2011
Venue Austin, Texas (September)
Montreux, Switzerland (July)
Genre Jazz fusion
Length112:30
Label Eagle
Producer Tim Cavanaugh, Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, Geoff Kempin, Adam Mason, Bill Rooney, Terry Shand, Lenny White
Return to Forever chronology
Forever
(2009)
The Mothership Returns
(2012)
Live in Japan 1983
(2021)
Chick Corea chronology
Hot House
(2012)
The Mothership Returns
(2012)
The Vigil
(2013)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
All About Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]

The Mothership Returns is a live two CD/single DVD set by the fusion band Return to Forever. Released 18 June 2012 by Eagle Rock Entertainment, it documents music performed during the 2011 tour, for which Return to Forever was expanded to a quintet with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White and new members Jean-Luc Ponty on violin and Frank Gambale on guitar. The album peaked #6 in the 2012 and 2013 Jazz Album charts. [3]

Contents

Track listing

Disc one

No.TitleLength
1."Medieval Overture" (Chick Corea)6:03
2."Senor Mouse" (Corea)12:10
3."Shadow of Lo/Sorceress" (Lenny White)16:05
4."Renaissance" (Jean-Luc Ponty)19:40

Disc two

No.TitleLength
1."After the Cosmic Rain" (Stanley Clarke)16:52
2."The Romantic Warrior / Señor Blues" (Corea, Horace Silver)18:20
3."Concierto de Aranjuez / Spain" (Corea, Joaquín Rodrigo)8:12
4."School Days" (Clarke)11:24
5."Beyond the Seventh Galaxy" (Corea)3:44

DVD-Video

  1. Inside the Music (film, documentary)
  2. "After the Cosmic Rain" (Live, Austin, Texas)
  3. "The Romantic Warrior" (Live, Montreux, Switzerland)
  4. The Story of Return to Forever (sneak peek movie trailer)

Personnel

Musicians

Production

Chart performance

YearChartPosition
2012Billboard Jazz Albums6 [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley Clarke</span> American bassist (born 1951)

Stanley Clarke is an American bassist, composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fusion bassist to headline tours, sell out shows worldwide and have recordings reach gold status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Return to Forever</span> American jazz fusion group led by Chick Corea

Return to Forever was an American jazz fusion band that was founded by pianist Chick Corea in 1972. The band has had many members, with the only consistent bandmate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke. Along with Weather Report, The Headhunters, and Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever is often cited as one of the core groups of the jazz-fusion movement of the 1970s. Several musicians, including Clarke, Flora Purim, Airto Moreira and Al Di Meola, came to prominence through their performances on Return to Forever albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Luc Ponty</span> French jazz violinist and composer

Jean-Luc Ponty is a French jazz and jazz fusion violinist and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenny White</span> American drummer

Leonard "Lenny" White III is an American jazz fusion drummer who was a member of the band Return to Forever led by Chick Corea in the 1970s. White has been called "one of the founding fathers of jazz fusion".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Gambale</span> Australian jazz fusion guitarist (born 1958)

Frank Gambale is an Australian jazz fusion guitarist. He has released twenty albums over a period of three decades, and is known for his use of the sweep picking and economy picking techniques.

<i>No Mystery</i> 1975 studio album by Return to Forever

No Mystery (1975) is a studio album by jazz-rock fusion band Return to Forever, and the second featuring the quartet of Chick Corea, guitarist Al Di Meola, bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White.

<i>Where Have I Known You Before</i> 1974 studio album by Return to Forever

Where Have I Known You Before is a studio album by Return to Forever, the first featuring guitarist Al Di Meola, and the second since leader Chick Corea switched to mostly electric instrumentation, playing music heavily influenced by progressive rock, funk and classical.

<i>Romantic Warrior</i> 1976 studio album by Return to Forever

Romantic Warrior is a studio album by the American jazz fusion band Return to Forever, their first recorded for Columbia Records, after releasing their previous four albums on Polydor. In February of 1976, the group retreated to Caribou Ranch near Nederland, Colorado to record. It was the first album to remove the "featuring Chick Corea" credit from beside the band name on the album cover. Despite the music being more dense and avant-garde than the funkier No Mystery, it remains the band's highest selling album with over 500,000 copies sold in the US alone.

<i>Eye of the Beholder</i> (album) 1988 studio album by Chick Corea Elektric Band

Eye of the Beholder is a 1988 album by the Chick Corea Elektric Band. It features Chick Corea with guitarist Frank Gambale, saxophonist Eric Marienthal, drummer Dave Weckl and bassist John Patitucci.

<i>The Rite of Strings</i> 1995 studio album by Al Di Meola, Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty

The Rite of Strings is a collaborative album by virtuosi Al Di Meola, Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty, recorded after their world tour in 1995. The album was recorded at Studio 56, Hollywood.

<i>My Spanish Heart</i> 1976 studio album by Chick Corea

My Spanish Heart is a studio album by Chick Corea, recorded and released in 1976. Prominent guest musicians include Corea’s Return to Forever bandmate Stanley Clarke on basses, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, drummers Steve Gadd and Narada Michael Walden and Corea’s wife Gayle Moran on vocals.

<i>Children of Forever</i> 1973 studio album by Stanley Clarke

Children of Forever is the debut album by jazz fusion bassist Stanley Clarke. It was recorded in December 1972, and was released in 1973 by Polydor Records. On the album, Clarke is joined by vocalists Dee Dee Bridgewater and Andy Bey, flutist Arthur Webb, guitarist Pat Martino, keyboardist Chick Corea, and drummer Lenny White.

<i>Return to the Seventh Galaxy: The Anthology</i> 1996 compilation album by Return to Forever featuring Chick Corea

Return to the 7th Galaxy: The Anthology is a 1996 compilation of 1972-1975 recordings made by bands assembled by Chick Corea under the name Return to Forever. The collection includes tracks from the albums Light as a Feather, Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, Where Have I Known You Before and No Mystery, together with four previously unreleased tracks.

<i>Return to Forever: The Anthology</i> 2008 compilation album by Return to Forever

Return to Forever: The Anthology is a compilation of the "electric years" of jazz fusion band Return to Forever. The collection features newly remixed selections from Where Have I Known You Before and No Mystery, along with the entire Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy and Romantic Warrior albums. Remixing was performed by Mick Guzauski at Mad Hatter Studios, with mastering by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering.

<i>Echoes of an Era</i> 1982 studio album by Chaka Khan et al.

Echoes of an Era is an album by American R&B/jazz singer Chaka Khan, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White, released in 1982 on Elektra Records.

<i>Returns</i> (album) Album by fusion band Return to Forever

Returns is a live album by American fusion band Return to Forever. Released in 2009 by Eagle Records, it is the first recording by the band after a hiatus of 32 years. Also in 2009 a video recording of the band's live performances from the "Returns" tour at Montreux, Switzerland and Clearwater, Florida was released by Eagle Rock Entertainment as Returns: Live at Montreux 2008.

<i>Inside Out</i> (Chick Corea album) 1990 studio album by Chick Corea Elektric Band

Inside Out is an album by the Chick Corea Elektric Band, released in 1990 through the record label GRP. The album peaked at number six on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.

<i>Beneath the Mask</i> 1991 studio album by Chick Corea

Beneath the Mask is an album by Chick Corea Elektric Band, released in 1991 through the record label GRP. The album peaked at number two on Billboard's Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.

<i>Forever</i> (Corea, Clarke & White album) 2011 live album / Studio album by Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White

Forever is a double CD album of live acoustic recordings recorded in California, Tokyo and Seattle in 2009 by the Return to Forever pianist Chick Corea, bass player Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White and studio rehearsals with guests Jean-Luc Ponty, Bill Connors and Chaka Khan. It was released on the Concord label I 2011.

References

  1. Kelman, John (19 June 2012). "Return to Forever - The Mothership Returns (2012) album review | All About Jazz". allaboutjazz.com. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  2. Jurek, Thom. "Return to Forever - The Mothership Returns (2012) album review | AllMusic". allmusic.com.
  3. 1 2 "Return to Forever - The Mothership Returns (2012) | Awards | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 13 October 2013.