Return to Forever

Return to Forever
Return to Forever
	Return to Forever in Rochester, New York, 1976. Left to right: White, Clarke, Corea, Di Meola
Background information
Origin	New York City, United States
Genres	Jazz fusion ; big band ;
Years active	1972–1977, 1983, 2008, 2010–2021
Labels	ECM, Columbia, Polydor
Past members	Chick Corea ; Stanley Clarke ; Joe Farrell ; Airto Moreira ; Flora Purim ; Lenny White ; 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; Frank Gambale ; Jean-Luc Ponty
Website	return2forever.com

Last updated March 15, 2024

Return to Forever was an American jazz fusion band that was founded by pianist Chick Corea in 1972.^[2] 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.

After playing on Miles Davis's jazz-fusion albums In a Silent Way (1969) and Bitches Brew (1970), Corea formed an avant-garde jazz band called Circle with Dave Holland, Anthony Braxton and Barry Altschul. In 1972, after converting to Scientology, Corea decided he wanted to communicate better with his audience. This meant performing a more accessible style of music than avant-garde jazz.

Return to Forever first disbanded in 1977 after five years and seven studio albums. The band never released another studio album, but occasionally reunited for live performances until Corea's death in 2021.

History

First group (1972–1973)

The first edition of Return to Forever performed primarily Latin-oriented music.^[2] This initial band consisted of singer and percussionist Flora Purim, her husband Airto Moreira (both Brazilians) on drums and percussion, Corea's longtime musical co-worker Joe Farrell on saxophone and flute, and the young Stanley Clarke on bass.^[2] Within this first line-up in particular, Clarke played acoustic double bass in addition to electric bass. Corea's Fender Rhodes electric piano formed the basis of this group's sound; he had yet to discover synthesizers, his trademark sound in the group's later years. Clarke and Farrell were given ample solo space themselves. While Purim's vocals lent some commercial appeal to the music, many of their compositions were also instrumental and somewhat experimental in nature. The music was composed by Corea with the exception of the title track of the second album which was written by Stanley Clarke. Lyrics were often written by Corea's friend Neville Potter, and were quite often Scientology-themed.

Their first album, titled simply Return to Forever , was recorded for ECM Records in 1972,^[2] and was initially released only in Europe. This album featured Corea's now famous compositions "Crystal Silence" and "La Fiesta". Shortly afterwards, Corea, Airto, Clarke and Tony Williams formed the band for Stan Getz's album Captain Marvel (1974), which featured Corea's compositions, including some from the first and second Return to Forever albums. Their second album, Light as a Feather (1973),^[2] was released by Polydor and included the song "Spain", which also became quite well known.

Jazz rock era (1973–1976)

After the second album, Farrell, Purim and Moreira left the group to form their own bands, and guitarist Bill Connors, drummer Steve Gadd and percussionist Mingo Lewis were added. However, Gadd was unwilling to tour with the band and risk his job as an in-demand session drummer. Lenny White (who had played with Corea in Miles Davis's band) replaced Gadd and Lewis on drums and percussion, and the group's third album, Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy (1973), was then re-recorded (the first recording, featuring Gadd on drums, was never released and has since disappeared).^[2]

The nature of the group's music had by now completely changed into jazz-rock, and had evolved into a similar vein to that which the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, and some progressive rock bands were performing at the time. Their music was still relatively melodic, relying on strong themes, but the jazz element was by this time almost entirely absent,^[2] replaced by a more direct, rock oriented approach. Over-driven, distorted guitar had also become prominent in the band's new sound, and Clarke had by then switched almost completely to the electric bass. A replacement on vocals was not hired, and all the songs were now instrumentals. This change did not lead to a decrease in the band's commercial fortunes however, Return to Forever's jazz rock albums instead found their way onto US pop album charts.

In the September 1988 DownBeat magazine interview with Chick Corea by Josef Woodward, Josef says (page 19), "There is this general view ... that ... Miles [Davis] crystallized electric jazz fusion and that he sent his emissaries out." Chick responds, "Nah, that's Disneyland. Miles is definitely a leader ... But there were other things that occurred that I thought were equally as important. What John McLaughlin did with the electric guitar set the world on its ear. No one ever heard an electric guitar played like that before, and it certainly inspired me. ... John's band, more than my experience with Miles, led me to want to turn the volume up and write music that was more dramatic and made your hair move."^[3]

While their second jazz rock album, Where Have I Known You Before (1974) was similar in style to its immediate predecessor, Corea now played synthesizers in addition to electric keyboards (including piano), and Clarke's playing had evolved considerably- now using flange and fuzz-tone effects, and with his signature style beginning to emerge. After Bill Connors left the band to concentrate on his solo career, the group also hired new guitarists. Although Earl Klugh played guitar for some of the group's live performances, he was soon replaced by the then 19-year-old guitar prodigy Al Di Meola, who had also played on the album recording sessions.

Their following album, No Mystery (1975), was recorded with the same line-up as Where Have I Known You Before, but the style of music had become more varied. The first side of the record consisted primarily of jazz-funk, while the second side featured Corea's acoustic title track and a long composition with a strong Spanish influence. On this and the following album, each member of the group composed at least one of the tracks. No Mystery went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Group.

The final album by this longest-lasting "classic" lineup of the group, which had by this time left Polydor for Columbia Records, was Romantic Warrior (1976), the best selling of all Return to Forever's efforts,^[2] eventually reaching gold disc status. Romantic Warrior continued their experiments in the realms of jazz-rock and related musical genres, and was lauded by critics for both the technically demanding style of its compositions as well as for its accomplished musicianship.

After the release of Romantic Warrior and Return to Forever's subsequent tour in support (as well as having in addition signed a multimillion-dollar contract with CBS), Corea shocked Clarke by deciding to change the lineup of the group and to not include either White or Di Meola.^[4]

Final album (1977)

The final incarnation of Return to Forever featured Corea, Clarke and Joe Farrell as well as a four-piece horn section and Corea's wife Gayle Moran on vocals, but recorded only one studio album, Musicmagic (1977).

In 1978, after issuing a live album of the tour titled Return to Forever Live: The Complete Concert ^[2] (a four-LP set, also released in edited form as a single LP and later as a double CD), Chick Corea officially disbanded the group.^[5]

Reunions

In 1982, the Corea/Clarke/White/Di Meola lineup reunited to record a ten-minute track, "Compadres", which was issued on Corea's 1982 album Touchstone . Also, they played at The Wolf & Rissmiller's Country Club, Reseda, California, with Joe Henderson on April 7, 1982.

In 1983, the same Return to Forever lineup played a short reunion tour of the U.S. and Japan, and the live recording in Japan was released in 2021. The repertoire for the tour included some new material by Corea, including one piece titled "Overture" that was later recorded by the Chick Corea Elektric Band for the live various artists double album GRP Super Live in Concert (1992),^[6] and another titled "The Phantom" that Di Meola later recorded on his album Kiss My Axe (1991).

Twenty-six years later, Corea, Clarke, White, and Di Meola reunited a second time for a tour of the United States and Europe that began in the summer of 2008. A boxed set of remixed and digitally remastered tracks from the albums Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, Where Have I Known You Before, No Mystery, and Romantic Warrior was released to coincide with the tour.^[7]

Corea, Clarke, and White (minus Di Meola) performed an acoustic tour in 2009 and released a live album in 2011 titled Forever . It included guest appearances by Bill Connors, Chaka Khan, and Jean-Luc Ponty.

In February 2011 the group began a world tour in Australia. The lineup for this tour was Corea, Clarke, White, Ponty, and guitarist Frank Gambale of the Chick Corea Elektric Band. Many dates included Dweezil Zappa's Zappa Plays Zappa band as an opening act with Corea occasionally appearing in Zappa's band on keyboards, as well as Jean-Luc Ponty performing some of the songs that he had performed with Frank Zappa.^[8]

Corea died of cancer on February 9, 2021.

Discography

Albums

Recording date	Title	Label	Year released	Notes
1972-02-2, -03	Return to Forever	ECM	1972	Credited as Chick Corea's album
1972-10-08, -15	Light as a Feather	Polydor	1973
1973-05-15	Jazz Workshop Boston, MA, May 15, 1973	Jazz-A-Nova	2019	Live recorded for WBCN radio broadcast program at Jazz Workshop. Previously dealt as bootleg recording.
1973-08	Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy	Polydor	1973
1974-07 – 1974-08	Where Have I Known You Before	Polydor	1974
1974-08-08	Alive in America	Renaissance	2022	Live recorded for radio broadcast from Ebbets Field, a small club in Denver. Previously dealt as bootleg recording.
1975-01	No Mystery	Polydor	1975
1975-06	Electric Lady Studio, NYC, June 1975	Hi Hat	2015	Live at Electric Lady Studios. Bootleg recording.
1976-02	Romantic Warrior	Columbia	1976
1977-01 – 1977-02	Musicmagic	Columbia	1977
1977-05-20, -21	Live	Columbia	1978	Live at Palladium (New York City) [4LP, 2CD, 3CD]
1983-04-17	Live in Japan 1983	Hi Hat	2021	Live at Yomiuriland Open Theatre East. Bootleg recording.
2008-07-25	San Sebastian Jazz Festival 2008	Hi Hat	2020	Live at San Sebastian Jazz Festival. Bootleg recording.
2008-07-18, -31 2008-08-06	Returns	Eagle	2009	Live at 3 venues ( Montreux Jazz Festival, Ruth Eckerd Hall and Bank of America Pavilion) [2CD, DVD-Video]
2009-09-01, -16, -17, -30, 2009-11-28, 2009-12-12	Forever	Eagle	2011	Credited as Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White. Live at 4 venues (Yoshi's, Monterey Jazz Festival, Blue Note Tokyo and Dimitriou's Jazz Alley. [2CD]
2011-07-29	Marciac Festival France 2011	Hi Hat	2022	Live at Jazz in Marciac. [2CD] Bootleg recording.
2011-07-12, 2011-09-13	The Mothership Returns	Eagle	2012	Live at 2 venues (Austin and Montreux) [2CD + DVD-Video]

Compilations

The Best of Return To Forever (Columbia, 1980)
Return To Forever (CBS/Sony, 1981) [Cassette]
Return to the Seventh Galaxy: The Anthology (Verve, 1996) – includes previously unreleased 4 live tracks
This Is Jazz 12 - Return To Forever (Columbia, 1996)
Return to Forever: The Anthology (Concord, 2008)
The Definitive Collection (Verve, 2008)

Personnel

All members

Chick Corea – Fender Rhodes electric piano, synthesizers (1972–1977, 1983, 2008–2021; died 2021)
Stanley Clarke – bass (1972–1977, 1983, 2008–2021), vocals (1977)
Joe Farrell – saxophone (1972–1973, 1977; died 1986)
Airto Moreira – drums, percussion (1972–1973)
Flora Purim – vocals (1972–1973)
Lenny White – drums (1973–1976, 1983, 2008, 2010–2021)
Bill Connors – guitar (1973–1974, 2009)
Steve Gadd – drums (1973)
Mingo Lewis – percussion (1973)
Earl Klugh – guitar (1974)
Al Di Meola – guitar (1974–1976, 1983, 2008)
Gerry Brown – drums (1977)
Harold Garrett – trombone (1977)
Gayle Moran – vocals, keyboards (1977)
James E. Pugh – trombone (1977)
John Thomas – trumpet (1977)
James Tinsley – trumpet (1977)
Ron Moss – trombone (1977)
Jean-Luc Ponty – violin (2009–2021)
Frank Gambale – guitar (2010–2021)

Lineups

1972–1973	1973	1973–1974	1974
Chick Corea – electric piano Stanley Clarke – double bass Joe Farrell – saxophone Airto Moreira – percussion Flora Purim – vocals	Chick Corea – electric piano Stanley Clarke – bass Bill Connors – guitar Steve Gadd – drums Mingo Lewis – percussion	Chick Corea – electric piano Stanley Clarke – bass Bill Connors – guitar Lenny White – drums	Chick Corea – electric piano Stanley Clarke – bass Lenny White – drums Earl Klugh – guitar
1974–1977	1977	1977	1977–1983
Chick Corea – electric piano, synthesizers Stanley Clarke – bass Lenny White – drums Al Di Meola – guitar	Chick Corea – electric piano, synthesizers Stanley Clarke – bass Gerry Brown – drums Joe Farrell – saxophone Harold Garrett – trombone Gayle Moran – vocals, keyboards James E. Pugh – trombone John Thomas – trumpet James Tinsley – trumpet	Chick Corea – electric piano, synthesizers Stanley Clarke – bass Gerry Brown – drums Joe Farrell – saxophone Harold Garrett – trombone Gayle Moran – vocals, keyboards James E. Pugh – trombone John Thomas – trumpet James Tinsley – trumpet Ron Moss – trombone	Disbanded
1983	1983–2008	2008	2009
Chick Corea – keyboards Stanley Clarke – bass Al Di Meola – guitar Lenny White – drums	Disbanded	Chick Corea – keyboards Stanley Clarke – bass Al Di Meola – guitar Lenny White – drums	Chick Corea – keyboards Stanley Clarke – bass Lenny White – drums Jean-Luc Ponty – violin Bill Connors – guitar Chaka Khan – vocals
2010–2021
Chick Corea – keyboards Stanley Clarke – bass Lenny White – drums Jean-Luc Ponty – violin Frank Gambale – guitar

Timeline

Related Research Articles

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.

Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" and "Windows" are widely considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis's band in the late 1960s, he participated in the birth of jazz fusion. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever. Along with McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett, Corea is considered to have been one of the foremost pianists of the post-John Coltrane era.

"Spain" is an instrumental jazz fusion composition by jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea. It is likely Corea's most recognized piece, and is considered a jazz standard.

Albert Laurence Di Meola is an American guitarist. Known for his works in jazz fusion and world music, he began his career as guitarist with the group Return to Forever in 1974. From 1976 to 1978 he played with Stomu Yamashta in the supergroup Go on three records. The 1970s and 1980s saw albums such as Land of the Midnight Sun, Elegant Gypsy, Casino and Friday Night in San Francisco earn him both critical and commercial success.

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

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". He has won three Grammy awards, two nominations and one Latin Grammy.

Flora Purim is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style. She became prominent for her part in Return to Forever with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke. She has recorded and performed with numerous artists, including Dizzy Gillespie, Gil Evans, Opa, Stan Getz, George Duke, Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead, Santana, Jaco Pastorius, and her husband Airto Moreira.

<i>Return to Forever</i> (Chick Corea album) 1972 studio album by Chick Corea

Return to Forever is a jazz fusion album by Chick Corea recorded over two days in February 1972 and released on ECM September that same year—Corea's fourth release for the label. It is the debut of a quintet featuring singer Flora Purim, flautist/saxophonist Joe Farrell, bassist Stanley Clarke and percussionist Airto Moreira, who would go on to record under the name Return to Forever.

Airto Guimorvan Moreira is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. He is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. Coming to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of the Brazilian ensemble Quarteto Novo, he moved to the United States and worked in jazz fusion with Miles Davis and Return to Forever.

<i>Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy</i> 1973 studio album by Return to Forever

Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy is a studio album by American jazz fusion band Return to Forever. It was released in October of 1973 by Polydor. It was the first album not to feature Flora Purim, Airto and Joe Farrell, and marked a shift away from the largely acoustic fusion they created. Drummer Lenny White and guitarist Bill Connors make their first appearances with the group. Connors would leave shortly after the albums release.

<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>Light as a Feather</i> 1973 studio album by Return to Forever

Light as a Feather is technically the first studio album by jazz band Return to Forever led by keyboardist Chick Corea. It features saxophonist/flautist Joe Farrell, bassist Stanley Clarke, vocalist Flora Purim and her husband, drummer/percussionist Airto Moreira, who all performed on Corea’s previous album Return to Forever, from which the group took its name.

<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 1972-1976 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>Captain Marvel</i> (album) 1974 studio album by Stan Getz

Captain Marvel is a 1974 jazz album by saxophonist Stan Getz recorded on March 3, 1972 and released on Columbia two years later. The quintet features pianist Chick Corea, who composed most of the material, bassist Stanley Clarke, Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira and drummer Tony Williams.

<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>The Mothership Returns</i> 2012 live album by Return to Forever

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.

"500 Miles High" is a jazz fusion song by American musician Chick Corea and Return to Forever. Composed by Corea with lyrics by Neville Potter, it was recorded in 1972 for the group's second album, Light as a Feather, which was released in 1973. Brazilian singer Flora Purim provides the vocal and the piece became her signature song and a jazz standard.

References

1 2 Ruhlmann, William. "Return to Forever Biography". AllMusic . Retrieved July 5, 2023.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 1007/8. ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
↑ "Pages of Fire: Articles: Notes by Jim Sheppard". Users.cs.cf.ac.uk.
↑ "Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review". Religio.de.
↑ Jazz Rock - A History, Stuart Nicholson, Schirmer Books, N.Y., 1998, p.375
↑ "GRP Super Live in Concert - Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic .
↑ Return to Forever reunites for 2008 trek Archived December 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
↑ "Return to Forever World Tour to Kick Off in Feb 2011". Voxy.co.nz. November 14, 2010. Retrieved July 6, 2011.

External links

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[Ruhlmann-1] 1 2 Ruhlmann, William. "Return to Forever Biography". AllMusic . Retrieved July 5, 2023.

[Larkin-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 1007/8. ISBN 1-85227-745-9.

[3] "Pages of Fire: Articles: Notes by Jim Sheppard". Users.cs.cf.ac.uk.

[religio.de-4] "Alt.religion.scientology Week in Review". Religio.de.

[5] Jazz Rock - A History, Stuart Nicholson, Schirmer Books, N.Y., 1998, p.375

[6] "GRP Super Live in Concert - Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic .

[7] Return to Forever reunites for 2008 trek Archived December 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

[8] "Return to Forever World Tour to Kick Off in Feb 2011". Voxy.co.nz. November 14, 2010. Retrieved July 6, 2011.

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v t e 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

v t e Joe Farrell
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.
Studio albums	Joe Farrell Quartet (1970) Outback (1971) Moon Germs (1972) Penny Arcade (1973) Upon This Rock (1973 & 1974) Canned Funk (1974) Benson & Farrell (with George Benson, 1976) Night Dancing (1978) Skate Board Park (1979) Sonic Text (1979)
Related articles=	Return to Forever

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