Super-Fusion Group Return To Forever returns with Doubleheader From Eagle Rock Entertainment

SUPERSTAR JAZZ-ROCK FUSION BAND
RETURN TO FOREVER
RELEASES DYNAMIC DOUBLEHEADER WITH
EAGLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT

2-CD Live Return to Forever Returns and DVD Live at Montreux
Documents Historic 25th Year Reunion
 
RTF Returns CD Released March 17
Live at Montreux on DVD and Blue-Ray May 12
In last year's DownBeat cover story on the reunion of Return to Forever, the headline exclaimed," "They're Back!" Indeed, the group-keyboardist Chick Corea, bassist Stanley Clarke, guitarist Al Di Meola and drummer Lenny White who comprised the most potent version of RTF-literally returned to forever as it played throughout North America and Europe in celebration of its first tour in 25 years. Crowds enthusiastically flocked to the 54 concerts - the highlight of the 2008 jazz touring season - and were treated to vibrant displays of high-energy jazz fusion at its best. This fervent reuniting is captured on two superlative historical documents from Eagle Rock Entertainment: the two-CD Return to Forever Returns, to be released March 17, and the DVD and Blu-Ray disc Return to Forever Live at Montreux, to be released May 12.

Returns features RTF in three settings: Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, FL (July 31, 2008); at the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston (August 6, 2008); and the Stravinski Auditorium at the Montreux Jazz Festival (July 18, 2008). The Montreux show yielded the epic-length song "500 Miles High," featured on CD2 as one of two bonus tracks. The other bonus is a live performance of "Romantic Warrior" recorded by the BBC when the legendary producer Sir George Martin presented RTF with the BBC's Lifetime Achievement Award.

The RTF tour date in Clearwater features the full-band tunes "Opening Prayer," "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy," "Vulcan Worlds," "Sorceress," "Song to the Pharaoh Kings" and "No Mystery" on CD1 and "Romantic Warrior" on CD2. Also featured in that show are band member solos and duets:

Di Meola solos: "Passion Grace & Fire," "Mediterranean Sundance," "Café 1930" (CD1)
Di Meola duets with Corea: "Children's Song #3," "Spain" (CD1)
Corea solo: "Friendship," including "Solar" (CD2)
Clarke solo: "El Bayo de Negro" (CD2)
White solo: "Lineage" (CD2)

The RTF opus "Duel of the Jester & the Tyrant" was recorded in Boston. Writing in the liner notes of Returns, Russ Davis says, "What makes the live recordings so remarkable is that they are at once nostalgic and yet so full of the 21st century. The songs, so familiar to fans of early RTF, have been transformed into new pieces of art. What was then is also now, as fans who originally experienced the music are treated with new sensations and realizations. RTF returned, and the art the band created anew is then-and-now forever-timeless and a part of all of us for all time."

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Commenting in DownBeat on the rehearsals before RTF launched its tour in Austin, Texas, Michael Point wrote: "The camaraderie of the veteran  musicians was so natural that it seemed logical to suppose the band had been together, not apart, for more than 30 years."

Point quoted Corea before the tour began: "So much of the music is like returning home again. There are so many emotions going on, and right now it's hard sometimes to concentrate on the music. Then playing the music with the band again unleashes another torrent of memories and emotions. There's a whole lot more happening here other than just a tour."

The U.S. shows captured on Return to Forever Returns were played before rowdy, raucous crowds-more like rock concerts than intimate jazz affairs. The Montreux show was decidedly different, with less rock and more of a jazz fusion feel. This is documented on the visual treat Return to Forever Live at Montreux.. The footage from this show is very special. It's beautifully shot with HD cameras, with special care taken when mixed and edited. Live at Montreux features the RTF show at the Montreux Jazz Festival in its entirety.

After the tour concluded in early September 2008, Corea reflected on the RTF reunion in his chickcorea.com Web site blog: "It was quite a thrill renewing the RTF experience and refreshingly surprising to see how well remembered the band was to all the audiences we played for...It was very heartening to me to see such enthusiastic responses for the edgy, instrumental music we played-especially since there was no recording released in all these years, no performances and no record company support of any kind. The whole experience was just live, with the band and the audience-no need for extra hype. It confirmed for me the truth and importance of the primary and direct communication right from the artists to their audiences. I guess this is a fixture of life: People love to entertain and be entertained. And the simplest, straightest way to have that pleasure is 'live.' As an added thought: in jazz, the most real and exciting performances that exist on record are the live recordings-no editing or 'fixing up' -just the untouched moment of creation."

For RTF fans who weren't able to attend a concert on the band's grand tour, they have the next-best opportunity to savor the reunion: a live recording (Return to Forever Returns) and a you-are-there video (Return to Forever Live at Montreux). Tyrant" was recorded in Boston.  Writing in the liner notes of Returns, Russ Davis says, "What makes the live recordings so remarkable is that they are at once nostalgic and yet so full of the 21st century. The songs, so familiar to fans of early RTF, have been transformed into new pieces of art. What was then is also now, as fans who originally experienced the music are treated with new sensations and realizations. RTF returned, and the art the band created anew is then-and-now forever-timeless and a part of all of us for all time."

www.eagle-rock.com/eaglerockUSA/

DL Media

Posted by Administration at 3/13/2009 11:00 AM
Categories: Jazz Fusion, DVD, Live Concerts, New Jazz Releases
 

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