Blue notes
The practice of simultaneously releasing CDs and DVDs of concert performances with identical track lists can give the impression that the audio disc is merely the DVD without the video content.
That's often not so, and the newly released Returns double CD by Return to Forever and their Live at Montreux DVD and Blu-Ray disc are a case in point.
The concert film was shot at one Montreux performance, and features bonus tracks from the band's US reunion tour last year.
The double CD features only one track from the Montreux show; the other 13 were recorded in Clearwater, Florida, Boston, and in a BBC studio in London. Fans can buy both without much of an overlap in solos, if not in songs.
Having all those sets available as a single package would have been preferable, but one shouldn't carp, because a small miracle was required to get Return to Forever back on the road, and the more of their music that is available the better.
The CD option includes an all acoustic rendering of Romantic Warrior, prefaced by a speech from George Martin, who was presenting the band with a BBC Lifetime Achievement Award.
It is easy to think of Return to Forever as simply Chick Corea's band - he and bassist Stanley Clarke were the only original members to stay until the end, and he was the main composer - but there was a strong demand for this particular cast to reform.
The 'classic lineup' - the version of the band that sold the most records - lasted only two years, but launched successful solo careers for Clarke, guitarist Al Di Meola and drummer Lenny White. Corea was already established, but moved to a new commercial plane with this incarnation of the group he founded.
Back together for the first time since a less successful reunion tour in 1983, the musicians are now on a more solid footing. Clarke is recognised as one of the most influential electric bassists in jazz and Lenny White has enjoyed a successful career as a leader and star sideman. Di Meola plays here with an authority and inventiveness only hinted at when the tunes were first recorded.
The band chose to play their best known tunes from the mid-1970s, including Spain and Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, recorded before the lineup here was settled on.
They returned to the old material with fresh enthusiasm and although there has been no suggestion of any further planned collaboration, there is clearly still creative energy there. It would be good to hear more from them.
As part of this year's Italy Quality and Lifestyle promotion organised by the Italian Chamber of Commerce, The Fulvio Albano Trio from the Jazz Club Torino, featuring saxophonist Albano, Gianluca Tagliazucchi on piano, and Paolo Benedettini, on double bass perform on Tuesday June 12 at the InterContinental Grand Stanford, playing original compositions and classics associated with artists such as Sonny Rollins and Hank Mobley.
