When keyboardist Chick Corea announced—following a successful world tour of his reunited 1970s-era fusion juggernaut Return to Forever, which, featuring guitarist Al Di Meola, bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White, included a high octane 2008 performance that was one of the best-attended in the Ottawa International Jazz Festival's three-decade history—that he'd be reuniting the earlier incarnation of the group responsible for Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy (Polydor, 1973), there was plenty of buzz.
He ultimately became the better-known of RTF's two guitarists—releasing three albums with the group, from 1974's Where Have I Known You Before (Polydor) to one of the decade's stone cold fusion classics, Romantic Warrior (Columbia, 1976)—yet there was still a significant contingent who favored Bill Connors' soulful, visceral approach over Di Meola's more technically proficient but often clinical gymnastics. Add to that Di Meola's well-publicized issues with the 2008 tour, along with a very decided avoidance of all but one track from Hymn and Corea's promise that this second reunion tour would right that wrong, and it seemed that 2011 was going to be a very exciting year for fusion fans.
Unfortunately, it was not to be. While Connors rehearsed with the rest of RTF—some of the results available on the bonus second disc to Forever (Concord, 2011), which documents an all-acoustic trio tour that Corea, Clarke and White embarked upon in 2009—health issues ultimately scuttled his return to the road. We may never know how well a reunited Hymn-era RTF would have been but, based on The Mothership Returns, we may never miss it.
Faced with a spot to fill in the guitar department (Di Meola was completely off the table), Corea called up old friend Frank Gambale, who'd played with the keyboardist in his late 1980s Elektric Band, and that might have been enough, since the Australian guitarist was a big fan of Hymn-era RTF and more than capable of cutting it. However, back when Connors played at the special Hollywood Bowl RTF show in 2009, for which the Forever rehearsals were conducted, Corea had also invited a couple of other guests, including violinist {Jean-Luc Ponty, another '70s-era fusion star.
The idea of expanding RTF to a quintet seemed like an inspired one, and it was; the subsequent 2011 tour, including another stop in Ottawa, found a much more relaxed Return to Forever IV—even its more casual dress reflected a show that was less an event and more about a group of friends getting together to revisit some music from the past, albeit often with new and/or expanded arrangements.
The Mothership Returns' two CDs document much of the music performed during that 2011 tour, and are a refreshing reminder why it was a more enjoyable tour than the 2008 Di Meola reunion. For a set list that, in addition to two iconic tracks from Hymn— Clarke's anthemic "After the Cosmic Rain" and Corea's often-covered "Senor Mouse"—also culls materials from Where Have I Known You Before and Romantic Warrior, Gambale may actually be a better choice than either Di Meola or Connors.
Possessing grit and grease that Di Meola lacks and technical chops that were, for Connors, deficiency at the time of Hymn—though his feel more than made up for it—Gambale's more substantial jazz credentials and ability to play changes (for which Di Meola usually substituted speed and cold precision) are in full display on an 18-minute version of Romantic Warrior's title track that smokes the two versions on Returns (Eagle Rock, 2009), the live album from the 2008 reunion tour.
It's also great to hear Hymn's tracks 40 years on; at the time of its recording, Clarke had yet to ncorporate the thumb-popping and slapping technique that he began to use on Where Have I Known You Before; instead, his Gibson bass (a predecessor to the much cleaner and funkier Alembic that he'd begin using on subsequent RTF recordings) was a heavily overdriven, thunderous sound that left little room for subtlety. Not that Clarke's testosterone-filled playing on The Mothership Returns is understated; but there is a greater sense of dynamics on "After the Cosmic Rain," which runs the gamut from its original rock-edged (and, at times, Latin-tinged) power during Ponty's exhilarating solo, to a surprisingly swinging groove when the spotlight turns to Corea and his Fender Rhodes.
Tracklist:
CD 1
1. Medieval Overture
2. Senor Mouse
3. The Shadow Of Lo / Sorceress
4. Renaissance
CD 2
1. After The Cosmic Rain
2. The Romantic Warrior
3. Spain
4. School Days
5. Beyond The Seventh Galaxy
Personnel:
Chick Corea / piano & keyboard
Stanley Clarke / electric & acoustic bass
Jean-Luc Ponty / electric & acoustic violin
Frank Gambale / electric & acoustic guitar
Lenny White / drums
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