Saturday, June 4, 2011

Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior (1976)

Chick Corea's Return to Forever project is one of the benchmarks of mid-70s Jazz Fusion, what it lacks in songwriting it more than makes up for in technical prowess- Al DiMeola's guitar runs sizzle, Stanley's Clarke's bass lines pop and Lenny White anchors it all with some funky drumming. 

Chick is Chick, what more can be said about the man? If you find this too dense and impenetrable, try Chick's earlier stuff and work your way up to it. 

This comes with a disclaimer: they veer heavily into psuedoclassical territory here and if you're a fan of both jazz and prog as well as later-day jam band noodling (a la Phish, et. al.) then this one does not disappoint. 
Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior (1976; Columbia Records)