Forever (Concord Records)
Corea, Clarke & White
Released June 6, 2011
Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album 2012
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=zSX2qTIlt54&list=OLAK5uy_kxd2Da8ObG4SMSw6njN8xaJZJkDDU5xac
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/45e9sciPZbU5GGVgO9QzlS?si=qAwKAKv3QZ6z3kh7R2tDhw
About:
“This tour with Stanley and Lenny in our acoustic trio setting was a long-time dream since the ‘70s. We always talked about it, but only got around to it now—and it was Big FUN! I could say a lot of other things about it—but mainly, playing the 50 shows or so we played was a pure joy and a long-time dream fulfilled.
“Actually, the piano, the acoustic bass and small-sized drums were our original instruments. And no matter how much experimentation gets done on the electric instruments, this acoustic sound is what we grew up loving and where our roots are and always have been.
“The sets we played were basically jam sessions of the standards we knew from the songbooks of Monk, Bill Evans, Miles and others. Also included are some pieces from the Return to Forever songbook reworked in this acoustic setting.”
Chick Corea
Track Listing:
Disc 1
1. On Green Dolphin Street 8:41
2. Waltz for Debby (Bill Evans) 9:55
3. Bud Powell (Chick Corea) 7:10
4. La Canción de Sofia 7:38
5. Windows (Chick Corea) 8:54
6. Hackensack (Thelonious Monk) 7:30
7. No Mystery (Chick Corea) 10:55
8. Señor Mouse (Chick Corea) 12:06
Disc 2
1. Captain Marvel (Chick Corea) 4:13
2. Señor Mouse (Chick Corea) 10:06
3. Crescent (John Coltrane) 1:45
4. Armando’s Rhumba (Chick Corea) 5:12
5. Renaissance (Jean-Luc Ponty) 6:29
6. High Wire: The Aerialist (Chick Corea) 3:41
7. I Loves You, Porgy (George Gershwin / DuBose Heyward) 5:13
8. After the Cosmic Rain 10:38
9. Space Circus (Chick Corea) 6:06
10. 500 Miles High (Chick Corea) 12:45
(Chick Corea, Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo 2012)
Personnel:
Chick Corea: piano (CD1, CD2 3-7, CD2 10), keyboards (CD2 1-2, CD2 8-9)
Stanley Clarke: acoustic bass (CD1, CD2 1, CD2 4-7, CD2 10), electric bass (CD2 2, CD2 8-9)
Lenny White: drums (CD1, CD2 1-3, CD2 5-10)
Special Guest Artists
Bill Connors: guitar (CD2 2, CD2 7-9)
Jean-Luc Ponty: violin (CD2 4-5, CD2 7-9)
Chaka Khan: vocals (CD2 6-7)
Recorded August 28, 2009 – September 1, 2009, at Blue Note, Tokyo, Japan; Jazz Alley, Seattle, WA; Mad Hatter Studios; Monterey Jazz Festival, Monterey, CA; Yoshi’s, Oakland, CA
Produced by Lenny White
Co-Produced by Chick Corea & Stanley Clarke
Review:
A two-CD set, the first disc is an acoustic piano trio
recital from the original rhythm section of the 1970s fusion band Return to
Forever, recorded during the 2009 RTF-Unplugged Tour, while the second
is an electric survey with RTF’s first guitarist, Bill Connors, along with
violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and vocalist Chaka Khan, taken from
rehearsals for a one- time performance at the Hollywood Bowl.
With the demographics out of the way, an acoustic trio made up of RTF’s fine
rhythm Section, performing mostly jazz standards, might at first seem to be a
bit of a novelty. Not so. While the trio never toured as such before these
recordings were made, its nearly 40-year history fully prepared the group for a
look back at the Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans and Miles
Davissongbooks; as well as drawing from the members and RTF’s repertoire.
Trio recordings like this clearly define the division between “simply
exceptional” and “without peer.” It is difficult to find a truly
bad jazz trio recorded—canned, as typically they are, long before the capital
investment. While there is a mountain of really fine music available—very
serviceable and quite enjoyable—here is little trio music that is
as rarefied as that found on Forever. All three musicians so
command their instruments that they exist on a performance plane defying
supportive/lead roles, in favor of absolute equality, like Jimmy Giuffre’s
trios of the early 1960s.
Lengthy readings of “On Green Dolphin
Street” and “Waltz for Debbie” warm things up enough
for Chick Corea’s well-known “Bud Powell,” before
introducing Stanley Clarke’s “La Canción de Sofia,” a piece that
showcases the obvious empathy between the pianist and bassist, who both play
with a rare touch and grace. Clarke divides his solo time between arco and
pizzicato playing, his transitions guided by Corea’s shifting ruminations. His
melodic pizz solo is a study in superb bass playing, predicated on idea
development and an bottomless loam of experience.
The RTF pieces, “Senor Mouse” and “No Mystery” translate
seamlessly into the acoustic trio format. The trio plays as a spiritually
conjoined unit, punctuated with Corea’s left hand. These are sublime acoustic
renderings of fusion classics.
Disc two’s electric music is revelatory; it could be a primer to fully
developed fusion, more informative than even rival Weather Report, whose
collective virtuosity is typically too radioactive for immediate consumption
and assimilation. For those frightened by the specter of fusion, this is the
introduction that leads back to the gritty Miles Davis source.
Corea’s electric piano potently recalls that wild 1970s Davis sextet that
hosted Corea, resulting in Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It’s
About That Time (Columbia, 2001).
C. Michael Bailey (All About Jazz)